(Reuters) - The California Independent System Operator Corp (CAISO)said it will convert two power plants to compensate for electricity lost by the shut down of the San Onofre nuclear power plant in a bid to ensure enough power generation next summer.
Edison International's Southern California Edison (SCE)'s 2,150-megawatt San Onofre nuclear power station, or SONGS, has not produced electricity since Jan. 31 after a radiation leak was found in one of the two units.
It had supplied the state with some 8 percent of its power.
The grid operator will convert AES Corp 's Huntington Beach natural gas-fired units 3 and 4 into synchronous condensers, which act "somewhat like spinning flywheels, adjust to grid conditions by providing the voltage support, normally supplied by the nuclear plant", CAISO said in a statement.
The units had been taken out of retirement and restarted in May to offset power lost from San Onofre.
Those units would produce "megavars, instead of megawatts" and would "push megawatts through the grid, much like water pressure helps push water through a hose."
The units would have low environmental impact.
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