Amazon announced Wednesday that it has signed three new agreements for nuclear energy to power its business.

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant joins tech behemoths Google and Microsoft in embracing nuclear technology to power its electricity-intensive data centers.

“Nuclear is a safe source of carbon-free energy that can help power our operations and meet the growing demands of our customers while helping us progress toward our climate pledge commitment to be net-zero carbon across our operations by 2040,” Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman said n a blog post. “One of the fastest ways to address climate change is by transitioning our society to carbon-free energy sources, and nuclear energy is both carbon-free and able to scale, which is why it’s an important area of investment for Amazon.”

Nuclear power is an increasingly attractive power source because it produces no carbon emissions, generates electricity around the clock and can be scaled up to produce large amounts of renewable energy more efficiently than wind or solar.

The Amazon agreements will help construct so-called small modular reactors, which have a smaller footprint than traditional reactors enabling them to be built closer to the power grid. They can also be built more quickly, Amazon said.

“Washington state is building out a full range of clean energy options as our electricity demand is projected to double over the next 25 years,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement. “Small modular reactors and fusion energy can play critical roles in providing consumers and businesses reliable zero-emission energy.” 

The state has invested $25 million in a consortium of state utilities known as Energy Northwest to build, own and operate four advanced small modular reactors. The reactors are expected to generate 320 megawatts of electricity at first with the option of increasing to produce 960 megawatts — or enough to power about 770,000 U.S. homes — starting in the early 2030s.

Energy Northwest is one of several nuclear entities Amazon is investing in. It also signed agreements with X-Energy to develop small modular reactors, with Virginia-based Dominion Energy to add small modular reactors to an existing nuclear power station and with Talen Energy in Pennsvylania to co-locate one of its data centers and directly powers its operations.

Amazon’s announcement comes two days after Google said it signed a deal to create advance nuclear power projects for its artificial intelligence operations. California-based Kairos Power will develop, construct and operate the plants to provide clean electricity to Google's data centers by 2030, with additional reactors coming online through 2035.

The Amazon and Google deals come less than a month after Microsoft said it had signed a 20-year agreement ot purchase power from a Three Mile Island nuclear power facility that’s scheduled to restart in 2028. Microsoft plans to use the electricity from the Londonderry, Pa., facility to power its data centers.

Nuclear power is a cornerstone of the Biden administration’s climate policy, which has set a goal of 100% clean electricity generation by 2035. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has said nuclear power is the country’s single largest source of carbon-free electricity.

Electricity demand is expected to increase 1.4% annually through 2032, according to Morningstar. Much of the demand will come from economic growth and the electrification of vehicles and buildings. Morningstar expects carbon-free energy produced from renewables such as wind and solar, as well as nuclear and hydro power, to make up 66% of the U.S. electricity supply by 2032.