KENNETT SQUARE, Pa.,
Jan. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Exelon
Generation's nuclear power plants in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic
regions ran at full capacity during the recent winter storm that
dropped more than two feet of snow in some parts of New England,
the company said today.
Exelon's seven plants in New
York, New Jersey,
Maryland and Pennsylvania operated without interruption
throughout the storm, producing 10,832 megawatts of electricity per
hour, enough to power more than ten million homes and
businesses.
"In extreme weather, nuclear plants have a distinct advantage
over other generation sources," said Bryan
Hanson, Exelon Nuclear president and chief nuclear officer.
"Importing fuel can be challenging or even impossible in dangerous
weather conditions. Our nuclear plants have the necessary fuel on
site and are designed to withstand winter's worst."
Nuclear generation has proven highly reliable in the face of
snow, ice and prolonged periods of freezing temperatures. During
last year's polar vortex, nuclear facilities performed at a 95
percent capacity factor, a key measure of reliability. Demand for
energy surged and grid operators struggled to keep up. Many
non-nuclear generation sources had high forced-outage rates or were
otherwise unable to perform. A number of natural gas and coal
plants across the country were unable to access fuel or operate
continuously.
Nuclear power plants are engineered to run uninterrupted for up
to two years. Beyond that, highly skilled plant workers prepare
nuclear facilities months in advance for the worst conceivable
winter storm by reviewing plant systems and identifying and
addressing potential vulnerabilities. When extreme weather hits,
procedures are in place to increase equipment monitoring to
minimize or eliminate weather-related problems.
During extreme weather conditions, nuclear plants also provide
critical redundancy to the electrical system. Nuclear stations are
usually the largest generation facilities in an electrical system's
interconnected network and grid operators count on nuclear's
"always-on" base load power as demand increases, especially when
other units go off line unexpectedly. Nuclear facilities are also
key to grid restoration in the unlikely event of a system
blackout.
Exelon Generation operates the largest fleet of nuclear plants
in the nation. The fleet consists of 23 reactors at 14 locations in
Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, New
Jersey, New York and
Pennsylvania.
Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) is the nation's leading
competitive energy provider, with 2013 revenues of approximately
$24.9 billion. Headquartered in
Chicago, Exelon does business in
48 states, the District of
Columbia and Canada. Exelon
is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with
approximately 35,000 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of
the nation's cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The
company's Constellation business unit provides energy products and
services to approximately 100,000 business and public sector
customers and more than one million residential customers. Exelon's
utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to more than 7.8
million customers in central Maryland (BGE), northern Illinois (ComEd) and southeastern Pennsylvania (PECO).
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SOURCE Exelon Generation