Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy
froze supply deliveries . By the time that industrial production began to recover , the spread of coronavirus began to impact foreign demand . These disruptions led to a large portion of global solar projects being stalled or cancelled . One domestic survey in the U . S . found residential projects had a 19 % cancellation rate and a 53 % job postponement rate . 27
Though construction may seem like a low priority for a pandemic , the long lifecycle for electric project development means that projects under construction during such a disruption are necessary for powering its recovery . Boom and bust cycles rarely impact electricity markets , but ensuring that construction continues during a short-term bust is needed to protect reliability in the long-term . This is especially true for zero-carbon infrastructure , which require a continuous and high rate of deployment to meet mid-century climate goals . The only new U . S . nuclear power reactors under construction at Vogtle 3 and 4 have faced substantial construction delays as a result of coronavirus . 28 Of 9,000 workers , dozens began to test positive for coronavirus , forcing the utility to scale back the workforce and slow construction .
On the maintenance side , many power plants and other power infrastructure have had to delay or defer maintenance . The most visible concerns involve seasonal refueling outages for nuclear power plants . As exceptionally large power plants , planned nuclear outages require large numbers of personnel , often from out of town . During outages , utilities typically plan for both refueling and maintenance activities . In 2020 , almost every single nuclear power plant in the U . S . had at least one scheduled refueling outage . 29 In response to the pandemic , any maintenance activities that could be deferred were . Nevertheless , refueling was needed to ensure the plants remained operational , with crews often rotating around the country on strict schedules limiting the ability to delay the outage entirely . Local governments raised concerns about these activities due to the large number of outof-state personnel required .
Although global electricity markets have generally handled the pandemic ’ s effects relatively well , the ongoing nature of the pandemic increases the chance for other natural or human caused disasters to impact sector resilience . Early in the pandemic , utilities and other operators already faced an increase in cyberattacks . 30
27 Abigail Hopper . “ Survey Findings : Things are bad and getting worse .” SEIA . March 2020 . https :// seia . org / blog / survey-findings-things-are-bad-and-getting-worse
28 Julian Spector . “ Sole US Nuclear Plant Under Construction Plods on Despite Virus Infections .” April 2020 . https :// www . greentechmedia . com / articles / read / covid-19-impacted-productivity-ofvogtle-nuclear-plant-construction
29 Sonal Patel . “ COVID-19 Threatens Outages Scheduled at 97 % of U . S . Nuclear Sites in 2020 .” March 2020 . https :// www . powermag . com / covid-19-threatens-outages-scheduled-at-97-of-u-s-nuclearplants-in-2020 /
30 Leo Simonovich . “ Why COVID-19 is making utilities more vulnerable to cyberattack — and what to do about it .” World Economic Forum . April 2020 . https :// www . weforum . org / agenda / 2020 / 04 / why-
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