27 Sep (NucNet): All four owners of the project to build the Vogtle-3 and -4 nuclear plants in the US state of Georgia have voted to continue construction of the two new Westinghouse AP1000 units, it was confirmed yesterday.
The four owners, Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities, agreed to finalise and execute agreements which help mitigate financial exposure for each of them, a statement released by both Southern Company and MEAG said.
The partners had originally faced a deadline of Monday to each vote to proceed with work to build the two units, the only commercial nuclear power plants being built in the US. That deadline was extended when Oglethorpe said it did not want to pass along rising costs to its members, electric power cooperatives in mostly rural Georgia.
The vote was triggered by a recent disclosure by Southern Company, the lead partner, that the capital and construction cost forecast for its share of the project had increased from $7.3bn to $8.4bn. The total projected project cost had increased by $2.2bn, reports in the US media said.
Those reports said the total cost had increased to around $27bn, around twice the original estimate. The project is also taking years longer than originally expected.
The Wall Street Journal said Southern Company had now come to a new deal with the other co-owners. Under the deal, Southern agreed to cover a growing percentage of the project’s construction costs if the price tag continued to climb. The Atlanta-based utility also agreed to purchase future tax credits from its co-owners at a discounted cost.
Georgia Power owns 45.7% of the project, while Oglethorpe owns 30% and MEAG, 22.7%. Dalton Utilities owns the remaining 1.6%, but it does not have a large enough stake to derail the project.
Last year, work stopped on construction of two AP1000 units at the Summer nuclear station in South Carolina, after it, too, encountered billions in cost overruns and years of delays.
Southern Company said Vogtle-3 is expected to begin commercial operation in November 2021 and Vogtle-4 in November 2022.
