NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) today announced plans to develop approximately 10,500 megawatts (MW) of new generation capacity over the next decade to help meet the energy needs of its high-demand, capacity-constrained markets and to support NRG's continued growth. This repowering initiative, which will be funded with the support of partners and project finance debt, would represent a total investment of $16 billion.With this repowering initiative, NRG will:
-- Enhance its dispatch mix with almost 8,000 MW of new baseload capacity - including 2,700 MW of nuclear - and 2,500 MW of new, highly efficient intermediate and peaking capacity;Mostly due to the Nuke plants.
-- Further diversify its fuel mix and reduce reliance on higher-priced, imported fuels, not only through its solid fuel repowerings, but also through the acquisition of a new wind development company with wind projects in active development in Texas and California;
-- Create thousands of new construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs; and
-- Reduce the carbon intensity of NRG's baseload fleet by 20-25 percent.
I have been informed by friends that the new NRC licensing process forces the wingnuts to express their concerns up front, and only about the site and local population characteristics with respect to emergency planning. NRC has also pre-approved a set of standard designs, so the moonbats posing as scientists have already questioned the designs and have been swatted down. This utility is smart, in that they are expanding an existing site, in an area with an existing emergency plan, and which already benefits from the jobs the plant provides. I've been told that there are many sites in the USA that have one or two units, but could handle up to four, so there are many opportunities to expand nuclear power.
Good news all around, and coupled with the announcement that GM will produce a hybrid car that you can plug into the wall to recharge overnight, this is a big, and necessary, step toward nuclear independence.
And it's a big jump up for the communities that host these sites: They're mostly rural, but the addition of a Nuke plant nearby boosts the local economy so much that they punch way above their weight.