Equinix has secured the first energy-capacity reservation from French small modular reactor (SMR) startup Stellaria, marking a significant step in the companies nuclear power partnership.

The announcement is a follow-up to an original deal between the two companies signed in August. The original agreement saw Equinix sign a pre-order power agreement with the company for 500MWe to supply data centers across Europe.

Under the new agreement, Equinix has secured the first energy produced by Stellaria’s Stellarium reactor, which is expected to commence deployments in 2035.

“The signing of this first contract is an important step for Stellaria. It sends a strong signal to the sector and proves that our roadmap is credible, with a deployment of our Stellarium planned for 2035. The digital sector is fully committed to sustainability to reduce environmental impact: this contract lays the foundation for lifelong energy-autonomous data centers, and we are proud to support a major player like Equinix in this project,” said Nicolas Breyton, CEO of Stellaria.

Founded in June 2023 by the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and Schneider Electric, Stellaria is developing the world’s first molten salt Breed & Burn reactor.

The 250MWe design breeds all of its liquid fissile fuel internally, recycles spent fuel, and burns long-life waste without refueling. The first fission reaction is targeted for 2029, with commercial operations planned for 2035.

“We chose Stellaria because of its innovative approach, enabling our high-performance AI-dedicated data centers to combine energy resilience, security, and flexibility,” said Régis Castagné, managing director, Equinix France. “Their Stellariums natively generate 250MWe of clean energy and consume their own waste, eliminating the need for on-site storage and solving a major operational challenge. This advancement will allow Equinix to operate with secure, carbon-free energy 24/7. It’s a transformative step toward building the next generation of sustainable digital infrastructure.”

In addition to Stellaria, Equinix has backed three other advanced nuclear power developers to shore up its energy supply chain amid the AI boom. In August, the company inked a deal with microreactor developer Radiant to purchase 20 of its 1MW Kaleidos microreactors.

Equinix also signed a deal with Dutch nuclear energy firm ULC-Energy for a PPA of up to 250MWe to power its data centers in the Netherlands. ULC-Energy, based in Amsterdam, is the exclusive Dutch development partner for Rolls-Royce SMR and selected the company’s 470MWe light water small modular reactor as its preferred technology in 2022.

Finally, last April, Equinix signed a pre-agreement with Oklo to procure up to 500MW of power from future fast fission plants. In total, Equinix now has agreements covering more than 1GW of nuclear capacity.

DCD did a deep dive into Equinix’s advanced nuclear strategy and the broader SMR sector in our upcoming Magazine. Subscribe here.