PPL said Tuesday it wants to raise Susquehanna’s generating capacity by 205 megawatts, or 8.6 percent. The two-unit plant now generates a combined 2,370 megawatts.
The expense would have no impact on rates because, due to deregulation, the nuclear plant operates apart from the PPL division that distributes electricity to customers.
“It’s a risk we take as a separate (corporation),” said Susquehanna spokesman Lou Ramos today. “We need to make sure we get a return on our investment.”
Susquehanna hopes to start modifying its systems next spring. The extra capacity would be ready in late 2009 and into 2010. Its plans need the approval of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The extra capacity — enough to supply 160,000 homes — would mark the third increase in Susquehanna’s output. Its capacity was boosted by 4.5 percent in 1994-95 and 1.4 percent in 2001-02.
Ramos said Susquehanna’s nuclear reactors were built to produce the extra steam needed to make the extra electricity.
But the plant’s turbines, generators and other non-nuclear components would need to be modified. Much of the work would be done during regularly scheduled outages for refueling.
Located seven miles north of Berwick, Susquehanna’s Unit 1 went online in 1983 and Unit 2 in 1985.
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