BRACEVILLE, Ill. (May 4, 2018) —Operators at Braidwood Generating Station returned Unit 1 to full power yesterday following a scheduled refueling outage that began on April 9. The unit was synchronized to the electrical power grid on May 1 at 6:05 a.m. and reached full power Thursday afternoon.
During this year’s outage, workers installed two new main power transformers and performed thousands of inspections and maintenance activities to ensure reliability for another two-year operating cycle. These state-of-the-art electrical components weigh approximately 500 tons and carry the plant’s outbound electricity efficiently on high-voltage power lines.
Braidwood Station is located 20 miles southwest of Joliet and has been producing carbon-free electricity for more than two million residents and businesses since 1988. Nearly half of Illinois’ electricity and more than 90 percent of Illinois’ carbon-free power is supplied by Exelon Generation’s nuclear power stations.
