New start of the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant as a solar park

Iowa’s only nuclear power plant in the works to become a solar farm

The Duane Arnold Energy Center did not restart after the August 10 dercho. (The newspaper)

PALO – It’s been a year since the Duane Arnold Energy Center – Iowa’s last remaining nuclear power plant – produced energy.

The plant is to be shut down on October 30, 2020; the plant was not restarted after August 10, 2020. According to NextEra Energy Resources, the owner of the facility, Derecho caused “extensive” damage to the facility’s cooling towers.

More about the decommissioned nuclear power plant:

Location: Near Palo, nine miles northwest of Cedar Rapids

Building permit granted: June 1970

Power of attorney for an operating license granted: February 1974

Trading operations started: February 1975

Energy output: 615 megawatts, enough electricity to supply 600,000 households.

Workforce: By 2019 the plant employed almost 600 people.

Who Was Duane Arnold ?: Iowa Electric Light and Power Co., Central Iowa Power Cooperative, and Corn Belt Power Cooperative applied for a license to operate a nuclear power plant in the 1960s. Arnold was Chairman and CEO of Iowa Electric Light and Power – now Alliant Energy – until his death in 1983.

Property: In 2006 NextEra Energy took over the management.

2008 flood: The Cedar River reached a height of 14 feet below the planned flood level for the facility. The plant could be operated safely during the historic flood.

What’s next?: NextEra is planning a 3,500 hectare solar park on and near the plant that could produce up to 690 megawatts of solar energy.

Estimated tax revenue: The project would generate approximately $ 41.6 million in tax revenue.

Property payments: Arrangements could result in payments of $ 50 million to landowners. Negotiations with the property owners began in the summer.

Here comes the Sun: NextEra aims to have its solar system operational in 2023.

Sources: NextEra Energy; The newspaper

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