BURLINGTON — Coffey County commissioners questioned Evergy officials at their meeting last week whether neighboring wind and solar plants were posing undue competition to the Wolf Creek Generating Station, which Evergy has 94% ownership, according to the Coffey County Republican.
Commissioners Don Meats and Jesse Knight asked, respectively, whether a wind farm or a solar farm in the county were negatively affecting the nuclear power plant’s level of production.
Cleve Reasoner, vice president and chief nuclear officer for Evergy, Inc., with oversight of Wolf Creek, said the wind and solar farms were not a threat, adding, “I worry if we are not going to allow different sources to exist, that could actually be a problem for us.”
All three — nuclear, wind and solar — produce carbon-free energy.
“The grid is moving toward more renewables — wind and solar. That, I believe, is a reality as we move away from fossil fuels,” Reasoner said. “The opportunity it provides for nuclear is that we are a dispatchable source of non-carbon-emitting power. .. I think the value of nuclear has turned and recognition of that is more appreciation in the industry,” Reasoner said.
Reasoner said there currently are periods in the spring and fall when temperate climates prevail that Wolf Creek reduces its power output to 70% because “there is more power being generated in this region than what customers need.”
Reasoner termed that oversupply as “congestion.”
But added those cutbacks happen rarely. “We almost always run 100%,” he said.
The upcoming NextEra transmission line that extends from Wolf Creek to southwest Missouri will put an even greater demand on the nuclear power plant, Reasoner said.
Last year, Coffey County commissioners enacted a one-year moratorium on commercial solar projects, the Republican reported. That expires Sept. 5.
Commissioner Knight said he was worried about the competition additional solar projects would mean to the nuclear power plant. “We want to protect Wolf Creek and the people who work there,” he said.
Reasoner said he appreciated Knight’s concern but that the playing field was big enough for everyone.
“Somebody has to put power on (the grid) when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun is not shining,” said Reasoner. “Even if we ran less in the future, without us, there is not a good option I couldn’t see for decades.”
WOLF CREEK will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2025, the Republican reported. The plant is licensed to operate until 2045. In the early 2030s, Wolf Creek management will consider asking for an additional 20-year extension.
“Our plant is good enough to do that,” Reasoner said. “Our plant is later vintage than a lot of the nuclear plants out there … it is a newer, more robust design.”
