NextEra ‘very interested’ in restarting shuttered Iowa nuclear plant
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NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) said Wednesday it is conducting engineering studies and speaking with U.S. regulators about the possible restart of its closed Duane Arnold nuclear power plant in Iowa.
“We’re very interested in recommissioning the plant,” Chairman, President and CEO John Ketchum said on NextEra’s (NEE) earnings conference call, adding the site uses older technology which may be simpler than other systems to revive.
“That gives us optimism about being able to do this at an attractive price,” Ketchum said.
Rival Constellation Energy announced last month that it plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania to supply Microsoft data centers.
Even so, bringing the 600 MW nuclear plant back into service would be costly with no guarantee the economics of the project would be justified, according to Jefferies analyst Julien Dumoulin-Smith.
“We believe a Duane Arnold restart is challenging, given the plant damage and robust regional wind generation,” Dumoulin-Smith said.
NextEra Energy (NEE) shares trade little changed after the utility compared reported mixed Q3 results, beating earnings estimates but missing on revenues.