Xcel picks developers for possible Minn. plants
Date: 14-Feb-03
Country: USA
The 1,076 megawatt, twin-reactor Prairie Island station, in Red Wing, Minnesota, is running out of space to store highly radioactive used fuel and may have to shut in 2007 if the Minnesota Legislature does not allow more storage.
The company said in a statement Tuesday it prefers to keep Prairie Island running and is asking the state legislature to decide the issue in its current session, expected to end in late May.
In the meantime, Xcel will negotiate power contracts with San Jose, California-based Calpine, and LS Power Associates, a privately held energy developer in Orlando, Florida, said Rick Peterson, Xcel resource analyst.
The two companies were picked in a bidding process that began in November 2001.
Calpine proposed a 565 megawatt natural gas-fired plant in the Mankato, Minnesota, area, and LS Power proposed a 550 megawatt coal-fired project near Rosemount, Minnesota.
One megawatt is power for about 1,000 homes.
Peterson said Calpine and LS Power would finance and build the plants and Xcel would purchase the energy under long-term contracts.
The projects require approvals by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and other state agencies.
The nuclear power industry has been searching for a permanent waste site for used fuel for more than 15 years but has run into tough opposition from environmentalists and state legislatures.
A dump site has been selected at Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert but faces legal challenges and is not expected to be ready before 2010 at the earliest.
