Nuclear Operations Instructor

U.S. Developers re-use coal-fired infrastructure for new power. Multiple developers have successfully incorporated infrastructure from retired coal-fired power plants into new projects, and the facilities continue providing sites for new solar, battery and nuclear power projects. Released Friday, September 18, 2026 Reports related to this article: Summary. Developers have implemented solar and battery facilities at retired coal-fired plants to take advantage of existing infrastructure and grid connections. Existing connections. U.S. coal-fired power is getting a bit of a life extension in a very supportive second Trump administration, with eased regulatory and emissions policies and a few "stay open" orders at coal-fired plants slated for retirement. While some of those plants may, in fact, stay open longer, that didn't stop a bevy of U.S. coal-fired plant retirements in years past. Some plant developers have made the most of this existing, dormant infrastructure by placing solar or battery energy storage systems (BESS) at the sites. In addition, nuclear power is now entering the picture. Successful projects. Solar and BESS installations at former coal-fired sites gained ground a few years ago as the technologies became less expensive and more accessible, and some of these projects already have been completed. One successful example comes from Vistra Energy, which built a 44-megawatt (MW) and 2-MW solar array at the retired Coffeen coal-fired power station in Coffeen, Illinois, which stopped operating in 2019. As is typical, the renewable energy replaces only a fraction of the retired capacity, which was more than 1,000 MW. However, the solar and BESS facilities were able to take advantage of the site's transmission connection to the MISO grid, marking a successful repurposing of the retired infrastructure. Readers can access details of the project, including construction timelines, key contact details, and equipment and service needs, by clicking here. An even larger project was completed just prior to that at the site of the retired San Juan Generating Station, where D.E. Shaw Renewables Incorporated (DESRI) completed a 200-MW solar facility and a 100-MW/400-megawatt-hour (MWh) BESS unit in 2024. Again, the coal-fired plant's infrastructure was a key part of the new facility's grid connection. DESRI is moving forward with other solar and BESS projects in the immediate San Juan area, including the Foxtail Flats development, which would include 170 MW of solar power and 80 MW/320 MWh of BESS capacity, as well as the Four Mile Mesa facility with even more solar and BESS capacity. AES Indiana successfully added BESS and solar capacity in two separate projects at the Petersburg Generation Station, which differs from the other plants in that only two of the four coal-fired units have been retired, with units 3 and 4 being converted to burn natural gas, which is expected to take effect later this year. Ongoing & future projects. Other companies continue taking advantage of existing coal-related infrastructure. Duke Energy is adding 167 MW of new BESS capacity at the retired Allen Steam Station in Belmont, North Carolina. The project is expected to wrap up next year. Similarly to the AES, two coal-fired units have been converted to natural gas at the Naughton Power Station in Kemmerer, Wyoming. TerraPower is building its 345-MW Natrium advanced nuclear reactor near the site to leverage existing facility infrastructure. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a construction permit for the reactor in March this year, and work is expected to be well underway next year, putting the reactor on track for completion by around 2031. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) also has commissioned studies related to potential small modular reactor (SMR) construction at coal sites, but its SMR project that is furthest along, Clinch River, doesn't fit this category. Key Takeaways * Previous projects have successfully leveraged retired coal-fired infrastructure for power from new solar and BESS facilities. * Existing transmission infrastructure and grid connections provide can cut costs and permitting times for new forms of energy. About Industrial Info Resources Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, Industrial Info Resources is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 trillion (USD). Want more IIR news intelligence? Make Industrial Info Resources, Inc. a Preferred Source on Google to see more of Industrial Info Resources, Inc. when you search. Ask Industrial Info Resources, Inc.. Submit a question and one of its experts will be happy to assist you. By submitting this form, you give Industrial Info permission to contact you by email in response to your inquiry. Forecasts & analytical solutions. Where global project and asset data meets advanced analytics for smarter market sizing and forecasting. PECWeb Global Market Intelligence platform. Identify opportunities, anticipate change, and execute with confidence. PECWeb connects the industrial intelligence you need, from projects and assets to operational events, all in one platform.

Constellation Energy and Vistra, two major US independent power producers, are benefiting from surging electricity demand driven by AI expansion, particularly from data centres. Over the past three years, Constellation's stock has risen 137%, whilst Vistra's has soared 330%. Constellation operates facilities with 55 GW capacity, including the country's largest nuclear fleet at 22 GW, serving 80% of the Fortune 100. The company expects adjusted operating earnings to grow 22%-33% in 2026 to $11.50-$12.50 per share. Analysts project 29% earnings growth in 2026 and 10% in 2027. Vistra operates facilities with 44 GW capacity, relying primarily on natural gas (62% of capacity) rather than nuclear power. Both companies benefit from the Zero-Emission Nuclear Production Tax Credit established under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

Vistra prices $1.5bn junior subordinated notes offering. Vistra Corp (NYSE: VST) has priced a $1.5bn offering of junior subordinated notes, a form of long-dated debt that ranks below a company's regular bonds but above its equity in a wind-down - the latest move by the Texas power generator to tidy up its capital structure ahead of two preferred-stock reset dates later this year. The Irving, Texas-based group first announced the launch of the registered offering on 10 September 2026, then confirmed pricing hours later the same day. The notes were split into two tranches: $850m of Series A notes priced at 7.00%, and $650m of Series B notes priced at 7.25%, both due 2057, according to Investing.com, which first reported the coupon detail. Why Vistra is raising junior subordinated notes now. The timing is not coincidental. Vistra's press release says net proceeds are earmarked for general corporate purposes, including funding the redemption of its 8.0% Series A and 7.0% Series B preferred stock once those securities hit their five-year reset dates in October and December 2026. Preferred stock resets are the point at which a company can call the shares back at par rather than let the dividend rate float - and with the old preferred paying 7.0-8.0%, refinancing into notes priced at 7.00% and 7.25% is a close call rather than an obvious saving, but it locks in long, 2057-dated maturities rather than perpetual instruments that could reset again. The new notes are junior subordinated, unsecured obligations of Vistra Operations Company LLC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary, rather than direct obligations of the parent - a structure Vistra has used before. The company priced $1.5bn of senior secured notes through the same operating subsidiary in a private offering back in May 2022, so this is a familiar route to market for the group, not a one-off. Barclays, BofA Securities, Mizuho, MUFG and Truist Securities acted as joint book-running managers, Investing.com reported, with the deal sold off an already-effective shelf registration - the standing SEC paperwork that lets a company sell securities quickly without filing a fresh prospectus each time. The offering was expected to close on 24 September 2026, subject to customary conditions. The backdrop: rates, earnings and a name growing rapidly. Vistra is locking in this coupon with the 10-year US Treasury yield at 4.83% as of 9 September 2026, according to Federal Reserve data, up slightly from 4.80% the prior session. That backdrop matters: a 7.00-7.25% coupon on 31-year paper prices in a spread of roughly 220-240 basis points over the risk-free rate (a basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point) - not cheap, but broadly in line with where BBB-range utility credit has traded this year. The raise also lands against a business that has been throwing off increasingly large, if lumpy, profits. Vistra's most recent 10-Q showed net income of $305m, or diluted earnings per share of $0.76, for the quarter ended 30 June 2026, on the back of a first quarter that produced net income of $1.029bn. Revenue for the first quarter of 2026 came in at $5.001bn, itself up from $4.25bn a year earlier - a reminder that Vistra's earnings swing hard with power prices and weather, which is precisely the kind of volatile cash-flow profile that makes locking in fixed-rate, long-dated debt attractive to a treasury team. Two Vistra insiders, Kristopher E. Moldovan and Scott A. Hudson, each filed a Form 4 with the SEC on 10 September 2026, the same day the pricing was announced - one filing and the other both logged with EDGAR within minutes of each other, though neither discloses the share counts or values involved. Vistra shares closed at $146.75 on 10 September, down 1.4% on the day but still up 4.6% over the preceding 20 trading days, having ranged between $135.66 and $154.45 over that stretch on consolidated US exchange data. Short-selling activity ticked higher into the pricing: FINRA's daily short-sale ratio, which measures the share of reported volume attributable to short sales, rose from 0.359 on 8 September to 0.559 on 10 September itself - a jump worth noting given the coincidence with the notes pricing, though a single day's move in that ratio is thin evidence of anything beyond ordinary hedging around a bond deal. What the reset dates mean for holders of the old preferred stock. For holders of Vistra's existing 8.0% Series A and 7.0% Series B preferred stock, the practical effect of this raise is that redemption at the October and December 2026 reset dates now looks well funded rather than merely flagged as an intention. Preferred investors who might otherwise have expected their dividend rate to float to a new, market-set level at reset will instead most likely see their shares called at par, with Vistra swapping that capital for the newly priced 7.00% and 7.25% notes maturing in 2057. The gap between the old preferred coupons and the new note coupons is narrow enough that this reads less as an aggressive cost-cutting exercise than as a maturity extension - trading perpetual, resettable preferred stock for fixed, long-dated debt at a broadly similar all-in cost. This article is for information only and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Markets move quickly; figures are correct as sourced at the time of writing. Always do your own research before making financial decisions.