The US Department of Energy has issued $1.8 billion in loan guarantees to three subsidiaries of the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia to support the construction of Vogtle 3&4.
The guarantees represent the last of three conditional commitments that were announced in 2010 and bring the total financing to $8.3bn.
The Vogtle 3&4 expansion project two 1100MW Westinghouse AP1000 reactors and is jointly owned by Georgia Power (45.7%), Oglethorpe Power Corporation (30%), Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (22.7%) and Dalton Utilities (1.6%). It is the first new nuclear plant to be licensed and begin construction in the USA for more that three decades, creating around 4600 onsite construction jobs.
"As we move towards a low-carbon future, the Department’s loan guarantees will play an important part in expanding the role of nuclear energy as a part of our all-of-the-above energy strategy," said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. "The Vogtle project has put the US at the forefront of a new generation of advanced nuclear reactors, incorporating numerous innovations resulting in significant operational and safety improvements, and helping to train a world-class workforce with expertise in building nuclear power plants."
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorised the DOE to issue loan guarantees for projects that avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gases and employ new or significantly improved technologies. The DOE also has $12.5bn in loan guarantee available to support eligible innovative nuclear energy projects.
