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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Proclaiming nuclear power "is the real Green New Deal," Energy Secretary Rick Perry delivered $3.7 billion of new loan guarantees to the owners of the two-unit expansion of the Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Power Station March 22.
The $3.7 billion in new loan guarantees are in addition to the $8.3 billion in loan guarantees to the project made by the Obama administration in 2014 and 2015. That brings the amount of federal loan guarantees to $12 billion for a nuclear project that is years late and billions of dollars over budget.
The Vogtle Expansion Project
Adding two units totaling 2,234 megawatts to the Vogtle station experienced another cost increase last year, bringing its total estimated costs to at least $27 billion. For more on that, see September 27, 2018, article - Four Owners Vote to Continue Construction of Vogtle Units 3 and 4. Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia), owns 45.7% of the new units. Oglethorpe Power Corporation (Tucker, Georgia) owns 30%, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power) (Atlanta) owns 22.7% and Dalton Utilities (Dalton, Georgia) owns 1.6%.
With the abandonment in 2017 of the partially constructed units 2 and 3 at the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Power Station in South Carolina, the Vogtle project is the only remaining active nuclear power construction project. For more on the abandonment of the Summer project, see August 1, 2017, article - Utilities Abandon Construction of Summer Nuclear Plant in South Carolina.
The Vogtle and Summer projects have been complicated, and made more costly, because Westinghouse Electric Corporation LLC (Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania) declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2017 and abandoned the new-build nuclear construction business. For more on that, see April 27, 2017, article - Westinghouse Chapter 11 Filing Roils Labor Markets in Georgia and Beyond.
The Vogtle expansion is about 75% complete, according to a Georgia Power spokesperson. Unit 3 is scheduled to begin operating by November 2021, while Unit 4 is scheduled to come online one year later, the spokesperson confirmed.
Speaking as a giant crane lowered the 1.5-million-pound containment cap on one of the units under construction, Energy Secretary Perry told utility executives, elected officials and hundreds of workers in hard hats, "The message that gets sent on this plant: America is back in the nuclear energy industry, folks. We are back. We're going to be leading the world."
"We have the goal of making American nuclear cool again," Perry said, adding Vogtle's expansion will bolster national security, pay economic dividends and provide clean, reliable energy.
The $3.7 billion in new loan guarantees will be split between Georgia Power (up to $1.67 billion), Oglethorpe Power (up to $1.6 billion) and MEAG Power (up to $415 million), according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE). The new loan guarantees were first announced in September 2017.
Despite the troubled construction project, Perry said, "The Vogtle project is critically important to supporting the Administration's direction to revitalize and expand the U.S. nuclear industry. A strong nuclear industry supports a reliable and resilient grid, and strengthens our energy and national security. As I've witnessed firsthand today, Vogtle is also an energy infrastructure project with a massive scope, employing thousands of workers. This project is rebuilding a highly skilled U.S. nuclear workforce and supply chain for the future."
Perry declined to say there could be a point where Vogtle's rising costs would make it an unwise investment for the federal government to back: "That is one of those questions that is out into the theoretical side."
"We had our challenges, but we've been able to fight through those challenges to make the incredible success we see today," said Tom Fanning, chief executive at Southern Company, Georgia Power's corporate parent. "The progress we are marking today is a direct result of the tremendous support the project has received." He emphasized "these are loans that will be repaid. So all this get returned to the government."
Paul Bowers, chief executive at Georgia Power, added: "We have made significant progress since taking over construction at the site and expect that momentum to continue this year."
But not everyone was cheering. In an emailed statement, Sara Barczak of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said, "rewarding failure by doling out billions more dollars in corporate welfare at taxpayers' expense for the Vogtle nuclear project in Georgia is not only unfair but it is idiotic given all of the red warning flags."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
The $3.7 billion in new loan guarantees are in addition to the $8.3 billion in loan guarantees to the project made by the Obama administration in 2014 and 2015. That brings the amount of federal loan guarantees to $12 billion for a nuclear project that is years late and billions of dollars over budget.
The Vogtle Expansion Project
Adding two units totaling 2,234 megawatts to the Vogtle station experienced another cost increase last year, bringing its total estimated costs to at least $27 billion. For more on that, see September 27, 2018, article - Four Owners Vote to Continue Construction of Vogtle Units 3 and 4. Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia), owns 45.7% of the new units. Oglethorpe Power Corporation (Tucker, Georgia) owns 30%, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power) (Atlanta) owns 22.7% and Dalton Utilities (Dalton, Georgia) owns 1.6%.
With the abandonment in 2017 of the partially constructed units 2 and 3 at the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Power Station in South Carolina, the Vogtle project is the only remaining active nuclear power construction project. For more on the abandonment of the Summer project, see August 1, 2017, article - Utilities Abandon Construction of Summer Nuclear Plant in South Carolina.
The Vogtle and Summer projects have been complicated, and made more costly, because Westinghouse Electric Corporation LLC (Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania) declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2017 and abandoned the new-build nuclear construction business. For more on that, see April 27, 2017, article - Westinghouse Chapter 11 Filing Roils Labor Markets in Georgia and Beyond.
The Vogtle expansion is about 75% complete, according to a Georgia Power spokesperson. Unit 3 is scheduled to begin operating by November 2021, while Unit 4 is scheduled to come online one year later, the spokesperson confirmed.
Speaking as a giant crane lowered the 1.5-million-pound containment cap on one of the units under construction, Energy Secretary Perry told utility executives, elected officials and hundreds of workers in hard hats, "The message that gets sent on this plant: America is back in the nuclear energy industry, folks. We are back. We're going to be leading the world."
"We have the goal of making American nuclear cool again," Perry said, adding Vogtle's expansion will bolster national security, pay economic dividends and provide clean, reliable energy.
The $3.7 billion in new loan guarantees will be split between Georgia Power (up to $1.67 billion), Oglethorpe Power (up to $1.6 billion) and MEAG Power (up to $415 million), according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE). The new loan guarantees were first announced in September 2017.
Despite the troubled construction project, Perry said, "The Vogtle project is critically important to supporting the Administration's direction to revitalize and expand the U.S. nuclear industry. A strong nuclear industry supports a reliable and resilient grid, and strengthens our energy and national security. As I've witnessed firsthand today, Vogtle is also an energy infrastructure project with a massive scope, employing thousands of workers. This project is rebuilding a highly skilled U.S. nuclear workforce and supply chain for the future."
Perry declined to say there could be a point where Vogtle's rising costs would make it an unwise investment for the federal government to back: "That is one of those questions that is out into the theoretical side."
"We had our challenges, but we've been able to fight through those challenges to make the incredible success we see today," said Tom Fanning, chief executive at Southern Company, Georgia Power's corporate parent. "The progress we are marking today is a direct result of the tremendous support the project has received." He emphasized "these are loans that will be repaid. So all this get returned to the government."
Paul Bowers, chief executive at Georgia Power, added: "We have made significant progress since taking over construction at the site and expect that momentum to continue this year."
But not everyone was cheering. In an emailed statement, Sara Barczak of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said, "rewarding failure by doling out billions more dollars in corporate welfare at taxpayers' expense for the Vogtle nuclear project in Georgia is not only unfair but it is idiotic given all of the red warning flags."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
