Monday, energy and utility holding company PPL Corporation(PPL) said that it has submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Energy for a federal loan guarantee to develop a new nuclear power plant near Berwick, Pennsylvania.
The new plant, which would be called Bell Bend, would be sited near the company's existing two-unit Susquehanna nuclear power plant facility.
The U.S government's federal loan guarantee program supports projects that avoid greenhouse gas emissions and employ new technologies. It is intended that all costs of the program be paid by the industry at no cost to taxpayers.
PPL's executive vice president and chief operating officer, William Spence, stated, "Without federal loan guarantees, companies like PPL will not be able to secure financing for the substantial cost of building new, advanced-design nuclear energy plants that will help this country achieve challenging limits on carbon dioxide emissions, as well as energy independence."
"Congress has appropriated $18.5 billion for the federal loan guarantee program. Expansion of this program is essential to increasing carbon-free generation from nuclear energy in the United States," Spence added.
The company expects to file an application for second part of the loan guarantee as required before the December 19, 2008, deadline.
PPL is also preparing an application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a combined license to build and operate Bell Bend, and expects to file that later this year.
Spence said that PPL has not yet made a final decision to move forward with construction of the Bell Bend plant, and such a decision wouldn't be made for several years. However, the decision, according to Spence, will depend on several key factors, including a federal loan guarantee, obtaining an NRC license and the company's view of the power market fundamentals at that time.
PPL has chosen the Evolutionary Power Reactor from AREVA of France. The proposed Bell Bend plant would produce 1,600 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power more than 1 million homes, the company noted.
PPL is curently trading at $36.87, losing 71 cents or 1.91%, on a volume of 2.1 million shares on the NYSE.
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