Duke Energy Corp. is exploring adding new nuclear at a site in Levy County, Fla., where the utility previously abandoned a nuclear plant project in its early stages, according to documents filed with state regulators.
"It is probable that the land in Levy County will be used for a regulated project in the future," Benjamin Borsch, Duke's managing director of integrated resource planning and analytics, told the Florida Public Service Commission. Borsch said the utility is weighing potential generation projects that may be needed in response to the planned retirement of coal units at the Crystal River power plant.
The 1,442-MW Crystal River plant in Citrus County, Fla., began operation in 1966. Two of its original units have been retired and two others, which entered service in the 1980s, are scheduled for retirement in 2034, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Duke also owns the Crystal River Nuclear plant, which entered service in 1977 and was retired in 2013.
In the 2038–2048 time frame, the Levy County property "will be an attractive site for the addition of a new zero-emitting load-following resource," Borsch said.
While Duke is exploring different technologies, Borsch said specifically in April testimony that the utility is considering the "potential development of next-generation nuclear." In follow-up testimony filed July 2, Borsch said Duke continues to "envision that its Levy County property could have potential 'new nuclear' use" and is "exploring" small modular reactor (SMR) technology.
"The site remains especially valuable given its access to water, transportation and transmission," Borsch added. Duke also plans transmission improvements at the site between 2025 and 2030.
Duke included the Levy County site in its three-year, $818 million Florida rate increase proposal filed with state regulators. In the request, Duke included a proposal to charge customers $94 million to hold the land "for future use," according to Borsch's testimony. The property is of particular value given its designation under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act providing benefits for future clean energy development at the site, Borsch added. (Docket No. 20240025)
"There is no nuclear currently planned" for Duke Energy Florida LLC, spokesperson Ana Gibbs told S&P Global Commodity Insights, adding that Duke expects to use an "all of the above" approach to generating resources — including nuclear — as it seeks to meet growing customer demand across its territories.
Duke has included plans for 600 MW of new nuclear by 2035 in its resource plans for the Carolinas but has not yet publicly announced plans to pursue new nuclear in Florida.
Recent nuclear legislation
Legislation to boost new nuclear development recently passed at both the state and federal levels.
Florida utility regulators took the first step to fulfill a legislative obligation to explore the viability of advanced nuclear in the state earlier this month.
US President Joe Biden also recently signed legislation to support development of advanced nuclear reactors by reducing licensing times and cutting processing fees.
Advanced SMRs are seen as a potentially affordable source of 24/7 carbon-free electricity. But US nuclear developers have struggled to secure financing due to uncertainty over permitting times and cost overruns.
Former Levy County plans
Duke previously planned to build a nuclear plant at the Levy Energy Complex but canceled those plans in 2013. The plans called for two AP1000 units totaling 2,200 MW, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
The utility cited delays in obtaining a license from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and unfavorable legislative changes as reasons for canceling the project. A 2013 Florida law limited ways utilities building new nuclear plants could recover costs through rates.
In 2015, the Florida PSC approved Duke's proposal to end its recovery of costs related to the canceled Levy County project through a monthly fixed rate, though it left open the ability to request cost recovery for the site in the future.
Duke Energy Florida still pursued the NRC licenses it sought for the reactors beginning in 2008, when the company was known as Progress Energy Florida. The NRC granted the combined licenses for two new reactors at the Levy site near Inglis, Fla., in October 2016. While the utility did not immediately move forward with plans at the site, it left open the possibility for future nuclear development.
"We continue to regard new nuclear as a viable option for future generation in Florida," a spokesperson for the company said in October 2016 following the license approval. "There [are] quite a few factors that will influence our ultimate decision, but the bottom line is our decision with Levy will be based on what's in the best interests of our customers."
But in August 2017, Duke announced it was abandoning the Levy County project, just days after subsidiary Duke Energy Carolinas LLC canceled plans for the 2,234-MW William States Lee III Nuclear Station in South Carolina. At the time, Duke said it would remove the Levy property from its rate base. A 2016 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission form said the land was valued at $94.1 million.
The NRC terminated the Levy licenses in 2018 at Duke's request.
Nuclear resurgence
Florida has two nuclear power stations that are operated by NextEra Energy Inc. subsidiary Florida Power & Light Co.: the 1,747-MW Turkey Point Nuclear plant and the 1,990-MW St. Lucie plant.
Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power Co. recently completed a two-unit expansion of its Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Plant, which began nearly two decades ago. The undertaking was plagued by cost overruns and schedule delays but emerged as the first new utility-scale nuclear reactor in the US in decades.
Rising US power demand and Vogtle's completion are raising the profile of nuclear as a carbon-free answer to US energy needs, and many utilities are weighing capacity increases at existing plants, restarts or repowerings.