Nuclear Innovation North America LLC (NINA), the nuclear development company jointly owned by NRG Energy, Inc. and Toshiba Corporation announced it has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for South Texas Project Units 3 & 4 to a restructured EPC consortium formed by Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corporation (TANE), a US based Toshiba subsidiary, and The Shaw Group Inc.
NINA is currently developing the 2,700-megawatt South Texas Project nuclear power expansion through the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company. The project remains on track for permitting in 2012 and for the first unit to come online in 2016 and the second in 2017.
“The collaboration of Toshiba and Shaw is the ideal partnership for the expansion of the South Texas Project,” said Steve Winn, President and CEO of NINA. “Each of these partners has industry-leading expertise in building nuclear power plants, and combined, they can deliver on-time and on-budget construction excellence. The addition of Shaw to South Texas Project team specifically adds additional expertise in modular and nuclear construction that will be invaluable to the project and makes the expansion team even stronger.”
Shaw is providing a $100 million credit facility to NINA to assist in financing the South Texas Project. The credit facility will convert to equity in NINA upon the satisfaction of certain conditions including the project receiving full notice to proceed, which is expected in mid-2012.
“With the addition of the South Texas Project, Toshiba and Shaw, along with Westinghouse, now have contracts together for 12 nuclear power units in countries outside of Japan,” said Yasuharu Igarashi, Corporate Senior Vice President of Toshiba Corp. “Together, we already have achieved a joint global leadership position in the nuclear power industry, which our new consortium further solidifies.”
“The South Texas Project will be the first project in the U.S. to use Toshiba’s Advanced Boiling Water Reactor technology, a leading-edge nuclear power plant technology,” said J.M. Bernhard Jr., Shaw’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “We believe Shaw’s experience building nuclear power plants in the U.S. and internationally will help ensure its ultimate success.”