NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - NextEra Energy expects

demand for new renewables power to triple over the next seven

years to meet quickly rising electricity demand from technology

and data center customers, the company said on Wednesday.

NextEra, which is based in Florida, was also cautiously

considering a restart of its Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa.

Executives with NextEra, which has the world's largest

renewable energy business, said rising U.S. power consumption

would provide opportunities and demand if they company proceeds

with resurrecting its nuclear plant, which was shut in 2020.

"It is something that we are looking at, but there's a lot

of thought that has to go into it," said NextEra CEO John

Ketchum, who added that the company would need to fine a

risk-free approach to any restart.

U.S. power companies, including Constellation and others

with nuclear power, are particularly expected to benefit from

the pledges by big tech firms to invest in new climate-friendly

energy generation to cater to surging AI power needs.

NextEra sees its total renewables portfolio with technology

and data center customers, including assets in operation and in

backlog, standing at seven gigawatts (GW).

Its renewables segment saw a rise of 3 GW worth of

renewables and storage projects in the quarter, with one of the

project being Google's 860 megawatt (MW) demand for its data

center power.

"Some of this is going to be a little bit longer to

materialize on the gross side" said Rebecca Kujawa, chief

executive of NextEra Energy Resources, adding that some projects

could start up between 2026 and 2028.