The US has closed a loan of up to $1.9 billion to NextEra Energy (NEE) to help restart the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa, the Department of Energy said on Tuesday, advancing the Trump administration's push to revive the country's nuclear fleet.
The DoE said the financing will support returning the 615-megawatt plant in Linn County to service. Duane Arnold, Iowa's only nuclear power plant, shut down in 2020.
The restart would add enough electricity to supply almost 500,000 homes, and help meet rising power demand across Iowa and the broader Midwest. The plant's return remains subject to required approvals from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Department said its Office of Energy Dominance Financing has now financed three nuclear plant restarts under the Trump administration and completed four concurrent conditional commitments and financial closings.
The Duane Arnold project is part of a broader administration effort to expand nuclear generation as US power demand accelerates, particularly from data centers, manufacturing, and other energy-intensive industries.
NextEra is seeking to bring the facility back online after its closure in 2020, joining a broader US industry push to preserve and revive existing nuclear capacity rather than relying solely on new reactor construction.
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