Santee Cooper Moves Closer to Reviving Stalled Nuclear Project

Written by Jesse Broehl, News Editor for IIR Energy, and Brian Ford, IIR Editor-in-Chief

Summary
Santee Cooper has picked Brookfield Asset Management to lead the proposed restart of construction on two partially built nuclear units, which are next to the operational V.C. Summer Plant in Jenkinsville, South Carolina.

Brookfield is Picked to Lead Revival of Stalled Nuclear Project
The board of directors of Santee Cooper, South Carolina's state-owned public utility, has selected Brookfield Asset Management (New York, New York) to lead the proposed restart of construction on two partially built nuclear units in Jenkinsville, South Carolina. The units were around 40% built by the end of 2017, but work was halted at the time by the owners concerned about runaway overrun costs.

On Friday, the Santee Cooper board approved a letter of intent with Brookfield that establishes a six-week project feasibility period, during which the parties will select a project manager and evaluate construction providers. Also, talks with entities interested in buying nuclear power generated by the units will take place, leading to execution of a memorandum of understanding.

Santee Cooper does not intend to own or operate the units, but rather plans to enable interested entities to pursue construction completion, ownership and operation of the units.

The two unfinished reactors at the V.C. Summer plant are each designed to have 1,100 MW of generating capacity, so potentially 2,200 MW of power could be added to the grid in an area with growing energy demand. The estimated total investment value of the project is $16 billion. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project and Plant databases can learn more from a detailed project report and plant profile.

Santee Cooper Board Chairman Peter McCoy said: "Brookfield came to Santee Cooper with a proposal that set out the path to turn our prior nuclear investment into lasting value for our customers and all South Carolinians."

He added, "Our goals include completing these reactors with private money and no ratepayer or taxpayer expense, delivering financial relief to our customers and gaining significant additional power capacity for South Carolina."

Santee Cooper said that in 2024, it recognized a potential opportunity to sell the project assets to a third party with the goal of completing construction. In January, the utility launched a competitive bidding process and received initial expressions of interest from over 70 potential bidders and 15 formal proposals.

According to news accounts, Santee Cooper said Brookfield preliminarily agreed to provide the utility with some of the power generated by the reactors.

One element of resuming construction is the continued involvement of Westinghouse Electric Company (Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania), which designed and owns the AP 1000 technology for the reactors, according to Santee Cooper.

"Brookfield is a majority owner of Westinghouse, which added to their proposal," said Santee Cooper President and Chief Executive Officer Jimmy Staton.

The two unfinished units are located next to the operational V.C. Summer Nuclear Plant, which includes the 974-megawatt (MW) Unit 01, which shares ownership between Dominion Energy South Carolina and Santee Cooper, at 67% and 33%, respectively. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Plant Database can click here for the plant profile.

Combined with other projects that were approved on Friday by Santee Cooper's board, the company said it was working to add more than 5,000 MW to South Carolina's grid.

History of VC Summer Units Halting Construction on Cost Overrun Risk
As brief background, the new Units 02 and 03 were around 40% along construction by the end of 2017. At the time, the Vogtle Nuclear Generating Plant in Georgia was being built and it went substantially over time and over cost. With a price tag in excess of $30 billion, it ended up being more than twice than original cost estimates. The reactor provider, Westinghouse, went bankrupt that year partly because of the Vogtle project.

Santee Cooper and South Carolina Electric & Gas (now part of Dominion Energy Incorporated (Richmond, Virginia)) decided to avoid similar cost overruns on their new V.C. Summer units and halted work after having jointly spent around $9 billion, when the entire project from start to completion had been originally estimated at less than $10 billion. For related information, see January 24, 2025, article - Santee Cooper Seeks Buyers for Incomplete South Carolina Reactors.

While Dominion continues to operate the Unit 1 reactor at the plant, which was built in 1982, ownership of the incomplete units 2 and 3 eventually was transferred entirely to Santee Cooper.

Key Takeaways

• Brookfield Asset Management won a bid to complete two nuclear reactors in South Carolina.
• About 2,200 MW could be added to the grid
• The project would help meet surging demand in the region

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).