Nuclear power may be making a comeback in the U.S. after years of setbacks — and big tech is the driving force.

As tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon and Google compete to take the lead in the AI revolution, the data centers needed to power the burgeoning technology consume an ever-increasing amount of energy.

In the last two months, those three companies have penned deals to generate more nuclear power — perhaps most notably, Microsoft struck a 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy to restart a reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the site of the most serious nuclear meltdown in U.S. history in 1979. The reopening is planned for 2028.

Speaking to CNBC at the annual International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington, long-time energy market veteran Dan Yergin described the turnaround as nothing short of extraordinary.

“It’s amazing, the change. The nuclear industry was in the doldrums,” Yergin told CNBC’s Karen Tso on Tuesday, describing the reopening of the Three Mile Island power plant as “symbolic.”

“Big Tech is saying, ‘We need reliable 24 hour electricity. We can’t get it just from wind and solar’,” he said.

Yergin, who has written several books on energy including “The Prize” and “The New Map,” pointed to the booming funding going into the sector. He cited $7 billion in venture capital going into nuclear fusion alone — which does not include financing for nuclear fission, a different energy-generating process.

“This is a really big change, and it reflects in this country, in the United States, a sense that — we’ve had for, really, a generation of flat demand [for] electricity,” Yergin said. “Now it’s going to grow, and there’s real anxiety about, how do you grow it? And nuclear [energy] is back in form, and people are talking about small nuclear reactors. And, of course, you have big tech actually seeking to contract for the output of the electricity from existing nuclear power plants. It’s an amazing change.”

Electricity demand is surging after staying largely flat for some 15 years, fueled by new data centers, factories, electric vehicles, and hotter and longer summers. A recent Energy Department memo cited in numerous press reports projected that U.S. power grids could see as much as 25 gigawatts of new data center demand by 2030.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it had closed a $1.5 billion loan for the revival of the Holtec Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan in late 2025, which would make it the first American nuclear plant to be restarted. Google in mid-October said it would purchase power from Kairos Power, a developer of small modular reactors, to help “deliver on the progress of AI.”

Global electricity consumption from data centers, artificial intelligence and the cryptocurrency sector is expected to double from an estimated 460 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2022 to more than 1,000 TWh in 2026, according to a research report from the International Energy Agency.

— CNBC’s Ryan Browne contributed to this report.

German aerospace startup Lilium faces insolvency if it doesn’t raise emergency funding from the state government for the southeastern state of Bavaria.

Insolvency would mark a dramatic fall for a startup once touted as Europe’s best chance at building the 21st-century equivalent of “cars” that can fly.

Lilium is one of a series of firms trying to build “eVTOLs,” or electric vertical take-off and landing, vehicles.

Popularly known as flying cars or air taxis, these vehicles are being developed by startups in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Today, however, Lilium is in trouble. The company is desperately trying to raise taxpayer funds in Germany. And so far, it’s been unsuccessful.

In response to Germany’s decision to deny Lilium state aid, Hubert Aiwanger, Bavaria’s economy minister, criticized the move, saying it was “regrettable” that the federal government opted not to support the firm.

Danijel Višević, co-founder of Berlin-based climate technology investors World Fund, said that though it was “understandable” lawmakers denied Lilium support over concerns around the government supporting one single company over another, there was a misguided notion among politicians that air taxis are a “toy for millionaires.” This idea, he said, was “too short-sighted.”

Višević suggested it was unfair that U.S. electric car manufacturer Tesla — which burned through billions of dollars before making a profit — was once able to receive a U.S. government loan, but Lilium was not.

Lilium struck major deals with the likes of Lufthansa in Germany and Saudia in Saudi Arabia. It also agreed a tie-up with Groupe ADP, an international airport operator based in Paris.

WATCH: eVTOLS: Are flying cars finally becoming reality?

The biggest influx of liquified natural gas (LNG) supply is coming online and it will transform the global market, bringing about wide and enduring effects, said RBC Capital Markets.

“A wave of new LNG supply —the biggest yet— is set to reshape the global market in the coming years, with broader implications than prior growth given increasing inter-linkages between regional gas markets following the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” analysts from the investment bank wrote in a note. 

The supply injection is likely to thrust the market into an extended period of oversupply by the end of 2026, which will remain until 2030, with prices possibly moving below double-digits, analysts such as RBC’s Anan Dhanani have projected.

Futures for the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) hub, a European benchmark for natural gas transactions, were trading at $12.78 per mmbtu on Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Throughout the year, a growing chorus of analysts have warned that tepid demand growth coupled with looming waves of export capacity could lead to a massively oversupplied market. As a stream of planned infrastructure continues to flood the market, it’s unclear if demand will increase to absorb each wave.

Oversupply and depressed prices underscore the bearish sentiments in the LNG sector, said Rystad Energy senior analyst Masanori Odaka. Suppliers are now increasingly prioritizing LNG used for shipping utilization over arbitrage opportunities, i.e. profit margins.

Commodity arbitrage involves the simultaneous or sequential buying and selling of commodities across different markets to profit from the price difference.

Global LNG trade has doubled in the last decade, growing from around 240 metric ton in 2014 to more than 400 metric ton last year, largely caused by the disruption of Russian pipeline gas to Europe, according to RBC Capital. Some had perceived the geopolitical risk as an opportunity in the market.

The investment bank projected that global liquefaction capacity, the total amount of LNG that can be produced annually, will grow by around 50% by the end of the decade. The U.S. and Qatar will hold onto their position as the world’s biggest suppliers, with a combined market share of almost 50% in 2030, RBC added.

Many private companies and state-owned entities have plans to boost capacity, “not only to backstop European consumption but to also capture an expected growth in consumption rates, particularly in Asia,” RBC’s analysts said.

But demand from the Asia-Pacific region, the biggest importer of LNG, is only expected grow by an average of 5% annually. Around 70% of this growth will stem from China, India and South Korea.

Meanwhile, LNG prices have not seen major fluctuations despite escalating geopolitical tensions. “Surprisingly quiet” was how Meg O’Neill, managing director and CEO of Woodside Energy, described the market.

“For me, maybe that’s a sign that there’s sufficient supply sources around the world to help mitigate any temporary supply disruption coming out of the Middle East. And that’s probably true for both oil and LNG,” O’Neill told CNBC on the sidelines of the annual Singapore International Energy Week conference. 

There are other looming challenges to the LNG sector that could affect global markets. The 2024-25 Northern Hemisphere winter is in sight and existing contracts of Russian gas deliveries to Europe through Ukraine are set to expire at the end of 2024, the International Energy Agency pointed out.

“This could mean an end to all piped gas deliveries to Europe from Russia through Ukraine,” the IEA wrote in a recent note. “This in turn would require higher LNG imports into Europe next year, resulting in a tighter global gas balance.”

U.S. crude oil futures extended gains on Tuesday, after rising nearly 2% in the previous session.

Oil prices have bounced back somewhat after selling off steeply last week. Traders increasingly view a supply disruption in the Middle East due to Israel-Iran tensions as unlikely.

Weak demand in China has also weighed on prices recently. Beijing cuts its benchmark lending rates on Monday, lending some support to the futures market.

Here are Tuesday’s energy prices:

• West Texas Intermediate November contract: $71.22 per barrel, up 66 cents, or 0.94%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has fallen slightly.
• Brent December contract: $74.85 per barrel, up 56 cents, or 0.75%. Year to date, the global benchmark has declined nearly 3%.
• RBOB Gasoline November contract: $2.0342 per gallon, up 0.97%. Year to date, gasoline has pulled back about 3%.
• Natural Gas November contract: $2.318 per thousand cubic feet, up 0.26%. Year to date, gas has fallen nearly 8%.