The Japanese company Toshiba Corporation and the US utilities in charge of the Summer nuclear stations South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCEGC) and Santee Cooper (SC) inked an agreement in order to continue the construction of the Summer nuclear plant. SCEGC and SC accepted a US$2.168bn compensation payment from Toshiba. SCEGC will get a payment of US$1.192bn reflecting its 55% share in the project while SC will receive US$976m for its 45% stake. However, both utilities are not sure if this amount is enough to cover the reactor cost since the total cost of the plant now approaches US$16bn while it was originally expected to amount US$9bn.
This deal follows a June 2017 similar agreement between Toshiba, Georgia Power (Southern Company) regarding the construction of the Vogtle nuclear plant units 3 and 4 in Georgia. Toshiba provided US$3.68bn for its completion. Since the bankruptcy of Westinghouse, both plants suffered from financing problems on top of the issues they had with Westinghouse's AP1000 reactor design, leading to delays and budget overruns.
The Two AP1000 reactors in construction on both sites are rated 1,117 MW each and are expected to be commissioned in 2019 and 2020 in Vogtle, respectively and 2019 and 2020 at VC Summer in South Carolina.