Dive Brief:
- Georgia Power's Vogtle nuclear plant will likely be delayed even further, the Associated Press reports — months beyond the three-year delay that project developers have already acknowledged.
- A report by staff and engineers to the Georgia Public Service Commission extended the deadline by two to three months to begin work on concrete walls and hoisting a section of the plant into place.
- Who will pay for the delays has become a significant question surrounding the project, with regulators estimating it will cost Georgia Power $2 million each day that it runs behind on the project's schedule.
Dive Insight:
Even more delays are now expected in the construction of Georgia Power's Vogtle nuclear facility, the Associated Press reports. The news organization used Georgia's open records law to obtain an April report by a nuclear engineer William Jacobs, Jr., and staff at the PSC, which estimated an additional two to three months for the already delayed project.
"Additional delays have a high probability of being realized which would extend the units' in-service dates beyond the total current delay of 39 months," the report said. The first new reactor at the facility was slated to begin operations in April 2016, with another to follow a year after. Now, it will likely be sometime in 2019 and 2020 when those units come online.
The plant, located in eastern Georgia, is about 46% owned by Georgia Power, 30% by Oglethorpe Power Corp., and 23% by the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia. Dalton Utilities owns a small portion of the plant as well.
The first unit began operating in 1987 and the second in 1989, and in 2009 the plant's operating license was extended for 20 years. Each unit is capable of generating 1,215 MW.
