PARIS, Nov 7 (Reuters) - EDF is in talks with three

companies to power their 1 gigawatt (GW) data centre projects in

France, an executive at the French utility said on Thursday, as

demand for the power-hungry operations booms on growing use of

artificial intelligence.

State-owned EDF is the world's largest producer of nuclear

power, which is increasingly viewed as a potential source of

clean energy for technology companies.

In the U.S., where data centre power use is expected to

roughly triple between 2023 and 2030, several large technology

firms have signed nuclear power deals in recent months.

Last month, Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Constellation Energy ( CEG )

signed a power deal to help resurrect a unit of the

Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst

U.S. nuclear accident in 1979.

In France, data centres have so far only required 100 or

200 megawatts of power, but "colossal" new 1 GW projects would

change that, Marc Benayoun, executive director in charge of

clients and territories at EDF, told a press briefing.

He declined to comment on which companies were involved and

said they were still seeking suitable sites.

They would significantly boost demand for French

electricity, however, which has not fully recovered from a

pandemic-induced downturn and lower consumption prompted by the

European energy crisis in 2022.

France is set to export up to 90 terawatt hours (TWh) of

electricity this year, Benayoun said, a record, also helped by

lower prices compared with neighbour Germany.

Additional demand from the new data centres would be 20

to 30 TWh, he added, though cautioned that the projects could

take years to complete, slowed down by the cost and public

consultation required to build new high-voltage power lines.

Future demand for electricity will also come from

transportation electrification, Benayoun added.