Georgia Power has identified locations for 500 MW of new BESS authorized by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), as part of its 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) Update.
The portfolio of BESS resources proposed by Georgia Power will help address the resource needs identified in the 2023 IRP Update in a cost-effective and strategic manner. Each of the proposed resources will be comprised of a 4-hour duration BESS and these projects will serve as dispatchable capacity resources to provide customers with a reliable and economical source of electricity for the winter of 2026/2027, once developed.
The planned BESS facilities are the Robins BESS in Bibb County with 128 MW capacity, co-located with an existing solar facility near Robins Air Force Base, the Moody BESS in Lowndes County with 49.5 MW capacity, adjacent to the Moody Air Force Base, the Hammond BESS in Floyd County, which will have a 57.5 MW capacity and utilizes infrastructure from the retired coal-fired Plant Hammond, and the McGrau Ford Site Phase II BESS in Cherokee County with 265 MW capacity.
Each BESS project qualifies for customer cost reducing tax incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act. The proposed BESS resources will also provide energy arbitrage benefits, which optimize energy savings by shifting the energy output from hours with a relatively low system marginal cost to hours with a relatively high system marginal cost.
Georgia Power is about to complete the 65 MW Mossy Branch battery facility located in Talbot County, Georgia. The company is also developing the 265 MW McGrau Ford Phase I BESS project and expects it to be operational by the end of 2026.
