California’s last commercial nuclear power plant could get a new lease on life after the Biden administration announced the approval of up to $1.1bn (€1.07bn) in conditional funding.

The grant funds may offer a path to keeping the two-unit Diablo Canyon nuclear station online beyond its scheduled shutdown in 2025.

In June 2016, station owner and operator PG&E announced that it had reached an agreement with organised labour and environmental organisations to increase its investment in energy efficiency and storage, as well as renewables, and to close Diablo Canyon upon the expiration of the reactors’ operating licences – November 2024 for Unit 1 and August 2025 for Unit 2.

But in September 2022, California legislators voted to extend the life of the state’s last nuclear power station by five years as protection against possible blackouts – provided the federal government pays much of the cost.