Innovation

Supporting New Solutions to Power the Future

Constellation's culture embraces innovation. We seek to develop, invest in and commercialize technological advancements essential to achieving a clean and reliable energy future. By leveraging our network of knowledgeable employees and external experts, we create innovative solutions that fight climate change, overcome business challenges and improve lives. New technologies and business models drive operational excellence and accelerate the development of new products and services for our customers.

To address current and future energy challenges, we pursue research and development (R&D), pilot programs and technology ventures with start-ups and investor communities. At Constellation, we identify, evaluate and nurture emerging technologies that have the potential to disrupt industries and shape new business lines. Our R&D and Technology Ventures investments position us to recognize and participate in trends early and bring scalable innovations to market – delivering value to our customers, communities and shareholders.

We work with customers, suppliers, universities, governments, national labs and startups on projects that:

• Support our access to new markets and products.


• Enhance customer value.


• Contribute insights into key science, technology and industry trends.


• Enable us to obtain ownership of and access to valuable technical intellectual property.


• Challenge existing patterns of thinking within the company to enhance workforce performance.


• Create solutions to technical and market challenges.

Learn more about Constellation Technology Ventures (CTV) and our mission to champion innovation that expedites the shift towards cleaner and sustainable forms of energy.

Leading the Way in Growing Clean Energy Growth

Investing in New Clean Energy Capacity

Today, we are investing in new clean energy capacity by implementing projects that uprate our nuclear and renewable assets, pursuing license renewals for our existing nuclear units, restarting a shuttered nuclear unit and developing other innovative approaches to support our customers’ current need for clean, reliable electricity.

By simply extending the life of our existing nuclear fleet and maximizing its potential power output with uprates, Constellation can generate as much emissions-free electricity as all the renewable energy generated in America over the past 40 years. In early 2024, we submitted license renewal applications to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for our Clinton and Dresden Clean Energy Centers in Illinois. We also continued with our $800 million investment to increase the capacity of our Braidwood and Byron Clean Energy Centers in Illinois by 158 MW. In early 2025, Constellation invested approximately $100 million to upgrade critical electrical systems and plant equipment at the Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center, the largest source of reliable and clean power in Maryland, to prepare the nuclear facility for license renewal. We will continue to consider and examine similar nuclear uprate projects and license renewals to help meet the increasing energy demand.

Cleanly and Reliably Powering Data Centers

Nearly every business transaction, internet search, scientific breakthrough or healthcare innovation that powers our economy and improves our way of life passes through one or more data centers. As the structures that house the technology forming the backbone of our digital economy, data centers are considered critical infrastructure. Their successful operation is essential to national security and the nation's financial, healthcare, communications and transportation systems.

With a central role in modern society, data centers need 24/7 access to clean, reliable energy. That’s why Constellation is working with technology companies to power the next generation of data centers with nuclear energy – the only source of low-carbon energy that can operate reliably in any kind of weather, every day.

By contracting data center load next to nuclear plants, we can deliver clean energy directly, reducing the need for transmission lines. Contracting nuclear power and data center load in this way saves consumers' money, benefits grid reliability, makes more efficient use of clean, low-carbon energy and creates a sustainable energy system for data centers that can operate well into the future.

Learn more about the benefits of data centers and how we leverage them to serve our customers.

Direct Air Capture: DOE-Backed Innovation at Byron Station 

In April 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded a $2.5 million grant to Constellation and its project partners to explore the benefits of constructing direct air capture (DAC) technology at the company's Byron nuclear energy plant. While nuclear plants do not produce any carbon emissions, direct air capture removes carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. It's a next-generation technology that can help our nation combat the climate crisis.

The DAC project at Byron Clean Energy Center  has the potential to capture 250,000 tons of CO2 each year, reducing global carbon emissions and helping to decarbonize energy-intensive sectors of the economy. The project will also focus on the potential for a nuclear plant to become the center of a direct air carbon capture hub by partnering the DAC technology with CO₂ storage.

Learn more about direct air capture.

Hourly Carbon-Free Energy Matching

Achieving 100% emissions-free power is a key sustainability goal for many organizations. As customers make this transition, many are looking to bridge the gap between their real-time electricity demand and available sources of zero-carbon power. Currently, energy markets have limited options for tracking and matching low-carbon supply with demand on an hour-by-hour basis, and most organizations pursuing emissions-free power match their electricity use with renewable energy certificates (RECs) on an annual basis. Hourly carbon-free energy matching is a game-changing approach to clean energy procurement that matches a customer’s electricity needs with regional, clean, emissions-free energy, when and where it is needed.

Learn more about hourly carbon-free energy matching.