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About Commodity Insights
Electric Power, Nuclear
November 05, 2024
By Daniel Weeks
HIGHLIGHTS
Outages stay above five-year average: EIA
H2 nuclear refueling up on year-ago period
The amount of US nuclear capacity offline declined this summer year on year despite extreme weather events and a decline in unplanned outages year-to-date, the US Energy Information Administration said Nov. 5.
Average nuclear capacity offline this summer fell to 2.6 GW/d, a 16% decrease from the summer 2023 average of 3.1 GW/d.
“Outages this past summer were highest in mid-July and early August, averaging 3.1 GW/d and peaking at 5.7 GW on the last day of August,” the EIA said. “More recently, nuclear outages have exceeded the five-year average because of weather-related disruptions and refueling outages.”
Nuclear power plants tend to avoid planned outages for maintenance and refueling during the summer and winter, which is when electricity demand is highest, the EIA said. As of Oct. 21, a total of 39 unplanned nuclear generation outages occurred this year, compared to 55 in 2023, the EIA said.
Unplanned outages can be caused by internal issues like equipment failures or external factors like extreme weather. Hurricane Helene damaged two nuclear plants in September, for example.
Several plants are planning refueling outages in the second half of this year, the EIA said. Nuclear Regulatory Commission data shows 20% of US nuclear capacity, or nearly 20 GW, is currently offline as of Nov. 5. This is outside of the five-year average outage range of 15.5 GW-18.5 GW.
S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed that more US nuclear capacity would shut for refueling in 2024 year on year. The data showed fewer reactors refueling in the first half of the year, but more refueling in the second half compared to 2023.
The NRC data shows that daily nuclear capacity offline this year have been above 2023 levels nearly every day since September.
According to Commodity Insights data, the average length of US nuclear refueling outages in 2023 was 38 days. The EIA said the 2024 average outage length was 34 days as of July 31.
“The outage at Sequoyah Unit 2 in Tennessee lasted the longest, 59 days, followed by Surry Unit 1 in Virginia at 58 days,” the EIA said. “Refueling outages at Fermi Unit 1 in Michigan and South Texas Project Unit 2 lasted 48 days.”