GRA
Well-known member
Via GCC: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/03/20170329-westinghouse.html
Directly related to the above, also via GCC:Westinghouse Electric Company and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. The company is seeking to undertake a strategic restructuring as a result of certain financial and construction challenges in its US AP1000 power plant projects. Westinghouse has obtained $800 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing from a third-party lender to help fund and protect its core businesses during its reorganization. . . .
The DIP financing will fund Westinghouse’s core businesses of supporting operating plants, nuclear fuel and components manufacturing and engineering as well as decommissioning, decontamination, remediation and waste management as the company works to reorganize around these strong business units. . . .
The company has reached an agreement with each owner of the US AP1000 projects to continue these projects during an initial assessment period. Westinghouse remains committed to its AP1000 technology as the industry’s premier Gen III+ nuclear power plant design, and will continue its existing projects in China as well as pursuit of other potential projects in the future.
Westinghouse’s operations in its Asia and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Regions are not impacted by the Chapter 11 filings. . . .
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/03/20170329-oilprice.htmlOpinion: What A Westinghouse Bankruptcy Could Mean For U.S. Utilities
. . . The two U.S. utilities with the most at risk are Southern Company and SCANA Corp. Westinghouse is presently constructing two unit, AP 1000 nuclear power stations for each utility. These projects are over-budget and behind schedule. It appears that Westinghouse offered both utilities a fixed price contract for these new nuclear plants. Our best guess is that this fixed price construction guarantee has doomed Westinghouse and prevented other potentially willing buyers from stepping in. . . .
What does this mean for the two domestic utilities embroiled in this international financial quagmire?
First, we expect that they will complete both nuclear construction projects. The bulk of heavy capital expenditures for both utilities seem to be in the 2017-2019 period.
Second, it is in all interest of all potential litigants to see these plants completed. Westinghouse/Toshiba, for one, would at least get to showcase the AP 1000 design and its successor entity could advocate for additional sales of this reactor design. A working design has value. (What happens in the UK is another matter where Toshiba hoped to build several plants). The utilities, which need new power stations, get large, rate based, non-fossil base load power generating resources for the next 40-60 years.
The worst case scenario for utility investors would be if the utilities had to cancel the projects and take big write offs. But we assign a very low probability to this scenario.
Perhaps, more likely, a Westinghouse bankruptcy means abrogation of the fixed price contracts signed with Southern and SCANA. . . .