Georgia Acquires Cheap Solar Power

Georgia Power filed a request for certification to enter into power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 515 megawatts of solar power. Georgia Power, Southern Co.’s largest utility subsidiary, filed the request in April with the Georgia Public Service Commission.

The PPAs include deals with two solar power projects with a combined 99 MW of capacity that will be owned by Southern Power, the wholesale generation subsidiary of Southern Co.  The PPAs are the largest solar power acquisition in Georgia and are part of Georgia Power’s Advanced Solar Initiative.

The average price of power in the four PPAs for solar projects with less than 20 MW of capacity was less than 6.5 cents per kilowatt hour, which is “2 cents below the cost achieved through the [utility's] 2013 solicitation" for solar power, according to Georgia Power’s filing. The four smallest projects have a combined capacity of 76 MW and are expected to come online by the end of 2015. Georgia Power praised the prices as proof that solar can “provide competitive pricing when challenged to do so,” in its filing.

The filing didn’t mention the PPA pricing of the six largest solar projects, which have a capacity of 30 to 101 MW and total 439 MW. Platt stated in an article last month that “given the economies of scale associated with larger projects, their power prices would likely be even lower than the 'less than 6.5 cents/kWh' in the smaller-project PPAs.”

Georgia Power is being recognized for its solar initiatives. The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) announced recently that Georgia Power was selected as the 2014 Investor-Owned Utility of the Year. Julia Hamm, president and CEO of SEPA, praised Georgia Power for its "whole-hearted response to calls from customers and stakeholders to become a leader in the development of solar in the state." Hamm added that Georgia Power's "ability to, in short order, develop a significant portfolio of solar projects at affordable prices should be a model for utilities everywhere."

PPAs are not the only component to the Advanced Solar Initiative, which was approved by the Georgia Public Service Commision in November 2012. Georgia Power has several solar projects it has constructed, including three solar plants at Georgia Army bases. The three solar plants will be sited at Fort Stewart near Savannah, Fort Benning near Columbus and Fort Gordon near Augusta. The projects will total 90 MW and are expected to be the largest solar power plants on military bases. They are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016.

Image credit: Georgia Power