Georgia Power has announced the locations for four new battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in the state, with a combined capacity of 500MW.
The projects will provide dispatchable power resources by the winter of 2026/2027.
The Georgia Public Service Commission authorised all sites in 2024 as part of Georgia Power’s 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) Update.
The planned BESS facilities are the Robins BESS in Bibb County with 128MW capacity, co-located with an existing solar facility near Robins Air Force Base, the Moody BESS in Lowndes County with 49.5MW capacity, adjacent to the Moody Air Force Base, the Hammond BESS in Floyd County, which will have a 57.5MW capacity and utilises infrastructure from the retired coal-fired Plant Hammond, and the McGrau Ford Site Phase II BESS in Cherokee County with 265MW capacity.
The project follows the McGrau Ford Phase I BESS, approved in the 2022 IRP, expected to be operational by the end of 2026.
The BESS resources will offer “energy arbitrage” benefits, as stated by Georgia Power, allowing the utility to shift energy output to maximise cost savings for customers.
Georgia Power is also nearing completion of the 65MW Mossy Branch battery facility in Talbot County, which was approved in the 2019 IRP and will serve as the company’s inaugural BESS resource.
In August 2023, Georgia Power’s Vogtle Unit 3, a nuclear power plant in Burke County, Georgia, started its commercial operations.
Georgia Power owns the power plant along with Oglethorpe Power, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Dalton Utilities.
The Vogtle electric generating plant features two existing units, completed in 1987 and 1989. Each unit produces 1.2GW of power, totalling a combined capacity of 2.4GW.
The third unit is among the first new nuclear plants built in the US in thirty years and will have a capacity of 1.17GW. It is expected to supply power to 500,000 homes and businesses.
