Birmingham, Alabama (Platts)--19Feb2013/310 pm EST/2010 GMT

The Midwest Independent System Operator has approved a plan to retire the 556-MW Kewaunee nuclear power station in Wisconsin, after deciding the closure would not affect system reliability, plant owner Dominion said Tuesday.

Dominion said that having received a letter from MISO outlining the approval, the company would move forward with its plan to close the single unit plant in the second quarter.

"After being reviewed for power system reliability impacts, the retirement of Kewaunee would not result in violations of applicable reliability criteria. Therefore, Kewaunee may retire immediately," Dominion quoted the MISO letter as saying.

Dominion put the generation station up for sale in April 2011, but did not find a buyer. Once the plant is shut, Dominion expects to meet its power supply obligations with market purchases until its power purchase agreements with two utilities expire in December, it said.

The plant has an operating license that was renewed in 2011 and expires in 2033. One reason Dominion had opted to try to sell the plant was the company was unable to grow its nuclear fleet in the Midwest to take advantage of economies of scale, it said Tuesday.

"In addition, Kewaunee's power purchase agreements are ending at a time of projected low wholesale electricity prices in the region," the company said.

--Mary Powers, newsdesk@platts.com --Edited by Lisa Miller, lisa_miller@platts.com