South Carolina utility says move is response to interest nationally in new reactors to help meet growing electricity needs
South Carolina’s state-owned utility Santee Cooper has launched a process seeking proposals that could lead to the revival of the abandoned Summer nuclear power station extension project.
The company said in a statement that it is looking for proposals to acquire and complete, or propose alternatives, for two partially constructed nuclear units at the site, in Jenkinsville, South Carolina. The utility said it has no plans to own the units.
The statement said Santee Cooper has engaged US investment banking firm Centerview Partners to conduct a request for proposal (RFP) seeking parties interested in acquiring the project and related assets, and potentially completing one or both units or pursuing alternative uses of the assets.
Factors contributing to the utility’s decision to launch an RFP process include a need for new generating capacity, driven by rapid growth of data centres, the onshoring of manufacturing and the retirement of fossil-fired plants.
Santee Cooper also cited significant interest in repowering closed or cancelled nuclear units to shorten project timelines, as well as federal incentives for these projects.
“Considering the long timelines required to bring new nuclear units online, Santee Cooper has a unique opportunity to explore options for Summer Units 2 and 3 and their related assets that could allow someone to generate reliable, carbon emissions-free electricity on a meaningfully shortened timeline,” said utility president and chief executive officer Jimmy Staton.
“We are seeing renewed interest in nuclear energy, fuelled by advanced manufacturing investments, AI-driven data centre demand, and the tech industry’s zero-carbon targets,” Staton said.
The Summer project is the third in the US that could lead to the completion or restarting of nuclear plants in response to the need for more clean, firm electricity on the grid.
Holtec International plans to restart the previously retired 805 MW Palisades plant in Michigan. Constellation’s 819 MW Three Mile Island-1 in Pennsylvania could also be returned to life following a power purchase agreement signed with Microsoft.
Santee Cooper also noted Summer’s “unique position” as the only site in the US that could deliver 2,200 MW of nuclear capacity “on an accelerated timeline.” The utility said that Summer-2 “was significantly progressed” when the project was cancelled, another possible incentive for a buyer. There is also room for more possible units at the site.
Last year, a nuclear advisory group created by the legislature in South Carolina said it was pushing for a study into restarting construction at Summer.
Members of the governor’s Nuclear Advisory Council discussed the idea after two of them made a trip to the abandoned reactors and parts left on site at the Summer nuclear station in Fairfield County.
There is one existing nuclear unit at the Summer site. Summer-1 is a 973 MW Westinghouse-supplied pressurised water reactor unit that began commercial operation in 1984.
Background: Failed Project Sparked Multiple Lawsuits
The project to build two new Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at Summer had cost nearly $10bn (€9.6bn) before it was shut down in 2017, sparking multiple lawsuits involving investors and ratepayers.
Partners Santee Cooper and South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) concluded that completing the two units would be prohibitively expensive.
The decision to abandon the project came after the bankruptcy filing of Westinghouse Electric, the project’s contractor. At the time, Westinghouse, then a unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corp, said it had over $6bn in debt.
SCE&G’s parent company Scana and Santee Cooper, the owners of the Summer station, then announced they were abandoning the project after Santee Cooper voted to cease all construction.
In January 2018 Dominion Energy said it would buy Scana in a $14.6bn deal that would include $1.3bn in refunds to SCE&G utility customers.
In July 2018, Scana shareholders voted to merge the company with Dominion Energy and SCE&G was rebranded under the name Dominion Energy South Carolina.
Dominion operates seven large-scale reactors at four sites: Millstone in Connecticut, North Anna and Surry in Virginia and Summer in South Carolina.
Four utility executives were charged and sentenced in connection with the failed project.
The decision to abandon the project came after the bankruptcy filing of Westinghouse Electric, the project’s contractor. Cpourtesy SCE&G.
