New gas plant at Canadys & VC Summer restart planned. How much power will SC add?

As utilities and lawmakers warn of rising demands for energy spurred by data centers, Santee Cooper approved next steps to add over 4,500 megawatts of power to South Carolina’s grid.

A majority of the new power comes from two plans: a 2,200 megawatt natural gas plant in Colleton County and the completion of the V.C. Summer nuclear reactors in Fairfield County.

The Santee Cooper Board of Directors met Friday morning in downtown Columbia. The group typically meets in Moncks Corner, near Charleston.

The board approved state-owned utility Santee Cooper’s role in building the natural gas plant in Canadys on a former coal plant. Santee Cooper will build the natural gas plant with Dominion Energy. The General Assembly allowed Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy’s partnership on the plant earlier this year. The two utilities will split the energy generated, with Santee Cooper owning 1100 megawatts.

Building the natural gas plant will cost about $5 billion, with each utility taking on half the cost, according to the meeting presentation. The natural gas plant is expected to be operational in the early 2030s, according to a news release.

A pipeline will have to be built through South Carolina for the natural gas plant, a point of concern for some residents and conservationists.

Santee Cooper’s board also approved a letter of intent for Brookfield Asset Management to complete two V.C. Summer nuclear reactors. The utility and SCE&G abandoned the project after spending $9 billion eight years ago, and customers are still paying for the failure on their energy bills. If completed, the nuclear reactors could add 2,200 megawatts of energy to the grid.

Two smaller projects also advanced Friday. A 300 megawatt battery energy storage system will be built and operated by a private company, Aypa Power, at the Jefferies Generation Station. While the battery energy storage system doesn’t create energy, it allows Santee Cooper to store and disperse generated power.

The board also approved procurement of two combustion turbines at Winyah Generating Station in Georgetown. The turbines can run on natural gas or fuel oil and will add 80-120 megawatts to the grid, according to a news release. The budget for the project is about $293 million, according to a presentation to the board.