South Carolina to Reboot Giant Nuclear Project to Meet AI Demand
years ago.
for artificial-intelligence capabilities.
The details
Santee Cooper plans to announce on Wednesday that it is soliciting proposals from potential buyers to take over and complete the project at South Carolina's massive V.C. Summer Nuclear Station.
The company is collaborating with investment advisors at Centerview Partners, who will be reviewing proposals until May 5.
The firm will leverage the investment, and is also looking for another power company to partner with for additional capital. It is expected that the investment place will not own or operate the units once they are operational.
The context
Construction on two nuclear reactors at the V.C. Summer nuclear plant was stopped in 2017 after Santee Cooper and the plant's previous co-owner, South Carolina Electric & Gas, which is now part of Dominion Energy, had already invested about 9 billion dollars together.
The firm that built nuclear projects, Westinghouse Electric Co., a contractor at the V.C. Summer site, sought bankruptcy protection that year, casting a cloud over the project's future. The two reactors had been two of the first nuclear power projects to be built in the US in years and were initially expected to be operational by 2019.
Santee Cooper now owns 100% of the assets at the V.C. Summer plant. It's anticipated that the company will be able to recover some of the $9 billion already spent, those familiar with the situation said. However, finishing the reactors will still require billions of dollars more over several years.
Several large nuclear power plants lost their power-generating capacity due to competition from cheaper natural gas and renewable energy options. However, increasing demand for electricity, notably to power data centers, has revitalized interest in reactivating those nuclear plants.
Alphabet, Google's parent company, also stated that it will support the construction of a few small nuclear reactors.
in the U.S.
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lauren.thomas@wsj.com
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