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Two additional Georgia solar projects powering Facebook information center currently operational
to build the 20-MWAC Odom Solar Farm, situated in Colquitt County in southwest Georgia, and chosen IEA to develop the 25-MWAC Appling Solar Farm in Appling County in
Jan 20, 2021 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, USA, Georgia, Europe, North America, Facebook, EMC, PV Power Plant, Urvi Parekh, solar projects, Reagan Farr, Walton Electric Membership Corporation, Ronnie Lee
Georgia Power Boosts Plan for Renewables and Storage After Local Stakeholder Push
Georgia's utility regulators approved a long-term plan that will see Georgia Power drastically expand renewable generation and develop, own and operate up to 80 megawatts of energy storage.
The final 2019 integrated resource plan calls for 2,260 megawatts of new capacity from wind, solar and biomass, which will bring those resources up to 22 percent of the utility's overall fleet capacity. Separately, the Southern Company-owned utility will invest in five hydropower projects while shutting five coal-powered units and all 29 coal ash ponds.
"We are positioning Georgia as a leader in the Southeast in battery energy storage, which is critical to growing and maximizing the value of renewable energy for customers as we increase our renewable generation by 72 percent by 2024," said Allen Reaves, Georgia Power's senior vice president and senior production officer, in a statement.
Indeed, Southeastern states have seen exceedingly little energy storage development so far, although utilities like Duke Energy and Florida Power & Light have announced significant investments for the coming years.
But if the final plan confers on Georgia Power the status of regional leadership, the company's original proposal aspired to something less than that.
When the utility filed its draft proposal in January, it only sought 1,000 megawatts of new renewables. As the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy quipped at the time, "Georgia Power’s new resource plan would have been considered bold nine years ago, but this plan is behind the times."
The regional clean energy advocacy group added that the proposed addition would be less than the renewables approved in the 2016 integrated resource plan, even though solar prices had dropped significantly since then.
The original proposal similarly asked for less storage: 50 megawatts, either standalone or solar-adjacent, "to evaluate the technical and economic performance relative to expectations."
Stakeholder intervention over the last half year succeeded in pushing the targets up to the final outcome.
"Intervenors made a difference through testimony," said Daniel Tait, research and communications manager for the Southeast at utility watchdog Energy and Policy Institute. "With the information that intervenors put forward, their modeling and their testimony, it’s becoming increasingly clear how cost-competitive renewables and increasingly storage are in Georgia."
Battery storage technology, which performs rapid-fire grid services as well as storing renewable power for use during peak hours, has proven appealing to a geographically diverse set of constituents: the solar-heavy California grid, the desert utilities of Arizona, the winter-storm-blown states of the Northeast. The 80-megawatt commitment cues up a new and significant market for the rapidly growing storage industry.
"We are not a nation of red states and blue states — we are a nation of energy storage states," observed Daniel Finn-Foley, an energy storage analyst at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables.
The agreement stipulates that Georgia Power will pick battery vendors and engineering, procurement and construction services through competitive processes. It will seek regulators' approval on each demonstration project before building it.
Regulated utilities in the Southeast have shown a keen interest in building and owning their own storage. Indeed, competition for regional leadership in the storage arena has heated up, with Duke Energy's commitment to 300 megawatts in the Carolinas by 2033 and FP&L's enormous 409-megawatt project, due online by the end of 2021.
"Eighty megawatts of storage would have made a major headline a few years ago," Finn-Foley noted.
The other major pillar of the long-range plan, energy efficiency, did not spur similarly groundbreaking updates. The utility highlighted a few items in its announcement, including a pilot program to help 500 income-qualified customers save money on their bills. That program is still being finalized.
Jul 18, 2019 // Storage, clean energy, USA, storage, Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, ENERGY STORAGE, Georgia, RESOURCES, SOUTHERN COMPANY, UTILITY-SCALE SOLAR, FP&L's, Carolinas, Southern Alliance, Allen Reaves, Georgia Power, Europe, North America
Kimberly-Clark backs neighborhood 3MW solar ranch in LaGrange, Georgia
all the renewable resource credit reports (RECs) will certainly be marketed to Georgia Power as part of Georgia Power's Renewable Energy Development
Feb 28, 2020 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, USA, Georgia, solar pv, Europe, North America, Jeremy Cannady, William Silva, Matt Ulman
Kimberly-Clark backs regional 3MW solar ranch in LaGrange, Georgia
the renewable resource credit histories (RECs) will certainly be marketed to Georgia Power as part of Georgia Power's Renewable Energy Development
Mar 4, 2020 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, USA, Georgia, pv power plants, Europe, North America, Jeremy Cannady, William Silva, Matt Ulman
Southwest Georgia's Hickory Park solar + storage space project under construction
2019 that it had entered into a 30-year power acquisition agreement (PPA) with Georgia Power, a capitalist owned public utility that offers greater than 2.6 million
Nov 19, 2020 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Storage, USA, Georgia, Europe, North America, rwe renewables, Silvia Ortin, Solar Project, Paige Gilchrist
Georgia Power's IRP for 2,300 MW of renewables, 500MW of battery storage accepted by state authorities
a 13MW project with the US Army at Ft Stewart near Savannah.
On top of this, Georgia Power has suggested a pilot distributed energy resource (DER) scheme for 250MW
Jul 25, 2022 // Storage, USA, Georgia, Georgia Power, pv power plants, Europe, BESS, North America, battery energy storage systems bess, renewables, georgia public service commission
Silicon Ranch, Green Power EMC tie up for 252 MW of fresh solar in Georgia
keep the solar plants. Green Power EMC, which provides renewable energy for 38 Georgia electric membership corporations (EMCs), will acquire the generated electrical
Jan 14, 2022 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, USA, Georgia, Europe, North America, Silicon Ranch, Solar Project, Green Power EMC
Form Energy in talks with Georgia Power for 100-hour iron-air battery storage project
Baseload Renewables.
The other day, the company revealed its tie-up with Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, among the US' most significant energy
Feb 10, 2022 // Storage, Georgia Power, Form Energy, utility, iron-air battery, coal plant retirement, baseload, emerging tech, long-duration energy storage, pilots and demonstrations
Silicon Ranch, Walton EMC Complete Construction on Georgia Solar Farms for Meta
of the companions' portfolio to 560 MW AC of new eco-friendly generation in Georgia.
" In 2018, Meta, Morgan Stanley, and also Walton EMC collaborated to make a
Dec 16, 2021 // Plants, USA, Georgia, Europe, North America, Solar Farms, Walton EMC
Silicon Ranch completes 287MW of solar PV projects to power Meta's Georgia operations
to provide renewable energy to Meta's information centre in Newton County, Georgia.
Walton EMC as well as Silicon Ranch have actually currently finished the
Dec 16, 2021 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, USA, Georgia, IPP, Europe, North America, Facebook, shell, Silicon Ranch, Clearloop, meta, walton electric
Silicon Ranch constructs 106-MW solar project for Georgia utility
online by the end of 2024. Silicon Ranch has than 2 GW of solar throughout Georgia.
Silicon Ranch picked IEA as the EPC contractor, which worked with greater
Apr 26, 2023 // Plants, USA, North America, Silicon Ranch, Solar Project
Belinus to Construct 5GW Solar Module Facility In Belgium, Georgia
be constructing a 5GW solar PV module production center in Belgium and also Georgia. It said that the solar module manufacturing facility will certainly be
Mar 15, 2023 // Manufacturing News, USA, Georgia, Europe, Belgium, North America, topcon, EuPD Research, solar manufacturer, Belinus, Francis Roma, Green Deal, solar module maker, Tandem Back Contact, TBC, Tunnel Oxide Passivation Contact
RWE launches US solar-storage plant
has begun procedures at a 195MW solar and also 40MW storage plant in Georgia, US.
The Hickory Park solar project includes a 195MW facility coupled with a
Jun 23, 2022 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Storage, USA, North America, rwe, solar-storage plant, Silvia Ortín
Framework and also Energy Alternatives selected to construct 100-MW Lumpkin Solar Farm
6 modules will be installed across the 850-acre website in rural southwest Georgia.
To create the center, IEA will work with around 300 craft employees, the
Jan 14, 2021 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, USA, North America, solar farm, Reagan Farr, Infrastructure, Energy Alternatives, Joe Broom
South Korea's Qcells to Construct $2.5 Bn Solar Factory in United States; More Than Doubles Production
over $2.5 billion to increase its solar module manufacturing procedures in Georgia, United States. Qcells will certainly build a new center in Cartersville as
Jan 12, 2023 // Manufacturing News, USA, SEIA, Georgia, solar cells, Europe, solar modules, North America, solar module, Qcells, 300 Nexus Drive, Brian P. Kemp, Western Hemisphere solar factory, Whitfield County