Dive Brief:
- The two-unit, 1,117-megawatt, $9.8 billion addition to the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station being built by S.C. Electric & Gas Co., the regulated utility subsidiary of investor-owned energy provider SCANA Corp., will now be another 30 months to 3 years behind schedule.
- Contractors announced that one unit has been delayed a year until Q4 2018 or 1H 2019 and that the other unit’s schedule will be delayed 12 months.
- The new delay will require SCE&G to re-evaluate and reschedule its cost estimates and cash flow requirements unless project contractors can find a way to eliminate the obstacles.
Dive Insight:
SCE&G owns 55% of the Summer Nuclear Station and will increase that to 60%, while South Carolina public utility Santee Cooper owns the balance. The two utilities jointly operate the 2,900 megawatt Summer Unit 1, which went into service in 1984.
The Public Service Commission of South Carolina approved initial construction in February 2009. The first of the two Westinghouse AP1000 reactor units was scheduled to be in service by April 2016 and the second a year later, but the schedule was then set back 10 months, to Q4 2017 or Q1 2018 for unit 1 and a year later for unit 2, by delays in the manufacturing and delivery of submodules from Chicago Bridge & Iron.
SCANA said submodule issues involved in the delay could add $200 million to project costs but it has not yet been determined whether Chicago Bridge & Iron or SCE&G must absorb that loss.
