Georgia Power gets approval for 5 new solar farms. How much energy will they make?
Georgia Power got the greenlight from the Georgia Public Service Commission last week for five new utility-scale solar farms, according to a news release from the power company.
The solar farms will be in Coffee, Jefferson, Laurens, Mitchell and Wilkinson counties and will total 1,068 megawatts of power. That amount of power would equal about 7% of Georgia Power’s 2024 power output, according to the company’s Facts and Figures Report. The Wilkinson County project also will include a battery storage system.
Third-party solar developers will build and maintain the solar farms and Georgia Power will then buy the power generated for 20 to 30 years through long-term contracts called Power Purchase Agreements.
These third-party companies were selected in the CARES, or Clean and Renewable Energy Subscription, 2023 Request for Proposal, which was approved in the company’s 2022 Integrated Resource Plan. Integrated Resource Plans are formal long-term strategies for power providers that outline how they will operate. They must be approved by Georgia’s Public Service Commission.
“Renewable RFPs, such as the CARES 2023 RFP, are designed to procure valuable renewable energy that helps to diversify Georgia Power’s generation mix and increase reliability,” said Wilson Mallard, director of renewable development for Georgia Power. “Our planning models project that these resources will deliver benefits to customers long-term. The five projects we selected are economical and we expect they will provide energy and capacity benefits to the system and the most value for all Georgia Power customers.”
The solar projects will supply electricity for Georgia Power’s CARES program, which lets commercial and industrial customers buy into renewable energy projects to support their sustainability or carbon-reduction efforts.
“The CARES program allows eligible commercial and industrial customers to support their sustainability initiatives by purchasing a subscription for a (percent) share of the production of renewable resources,” the release reads. “Demand for such subscriptions continues to grow from customers with sustainability goals.”
The CARES 2025 request for proposals, also approved in the 2022 Integrated Resource Plan, was issued this year with project bids submitted by the end of August. The power company sought large-scale solar projects, including those paired with battery storage, providing up to 2,000 megawatts of new capacity.
The 2025 Integrated Resource Plan calls for an additional 4,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2035, which would expand the company’s renewable portfolio to 11,000 megawatts, according to the release.
