FPL Group has agreed to buy a majority interest in Seabrook from a consortium of owners. Under the terms of the agreement, FPL will acquire an 88.2% interest in Seabrook for a total of $836.6 million. This includes $749.1 million for the plant and its decommissioning trust fund; $61.9 million for nuclear fuel; and $25.6 million for components from the partially completed unit 2. FPL is hoping to complete the acquisition by the end of 2002. The deal is subject to approval from federal and state regulatory agencies.
According to Andre Meade, an analyst with Commerzbank in New York, FPL will have to operate the plant for most of the year in order to show a profit. "As long as it is running 85-90% of the year, it's going to be pretty successful. It's when problems arise that cause it to be down for an extended period of time that you run into trouble. New England is fundamentally an attractive market because there isn't a lot of coal-fire capacity there, which means you have gas-fire facilities running round the clock, and therefore higher prices."
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