With being on the verge of restarting, Holtec’s Palisades nuclear plant has been awarded its sixth reimbursement loan by the Department of Energy worth $155.9 million.
The sixth loan portion comes a month after the fifth loan guarantee was distributed, which was worth $83.2 million. DOE has now issued $491 million to the Palisades plant to support its efforts to restart its operations, according to DOE’s Tuesday press release.
Additionally, the sixth loan marks the largest reimbursement loan received by Palisades so far. The second largest loan was the fourth installment which came in around $100 million.
The loan guarantee from DOE’s Loan Program Office was initially announced in September 2024.
Palisades is an 800-megawatt nuclear power plant located in Covert Township, Mich. that ceased operations in 2022 under Entergy. Holtec, which originally bought the plant from Entergy in 2022 to decommission it, has been working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to restart its operations.
In late August, NRC granted the Palisades plant operational status, making it the first U.S. plant to move from decommissioning back to operational status.
Palisades can receive fuel but cannot fully restart until Holtec meets all the conditions of their operating license, according to NRC.
Holtec director of government affairs and communications Patrick O’Brien told Exchange Monitor that the company is looking for Palisades to fully restart within the fourth quarter of this year.
“With projects like the Palisades Nuclear Plant, the Department of Energy is committed to lowering energy costs and increasing domestic energy production, delivering reliable, affordable and secure energy to the American people,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.