Biomass

Wholesale subsidiary Southern Power has begun construction of a 100-megawatt (MW) biomass plant in Sacul, Texas, that will be one of the largest in the country. The 100-megawatt Nacogdoches Generating Facility will serve the city of Austin.

Subsidiary Georgia Power plans to convert a unit at Plant Mitchell, a coal-based power plant near Albany, Georgia, to biomass, pending resolution of regulatory uncertainties.

Southern Company operating subsidiaries are evaluating opportunities to convert existing fossil units to biomass over the next decade. Decisions on individual projects will depend on costs, regulatory/legislative requirements, biomass fuel availability and other site-specific factors.

Southern Company is conducting research at several plants into co-firing coal with wood chips, wood pellets, sawdust, urban wood waste, peanut hulls, switchgrass and other biomass to determine the costs and impacts of the process.

Subsidiary Alabama Power has been co-firing biomass grass fuel materials with coal for nine years as part of normal operations at its Plant Gadsden, and co-milling wood in various forms (including chips and sawdust) for eight years.

A partnership with The Westervelt Company will provide 7.5 MW of renewable energy from wood byproducts that Alabama Power will use to further diversify its mix of electricity fuel sources.

Solar

Southern Company is partnering with Turner Renewable Energy on a 30-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Cimarron, New Mexico. More on Cimarron solar.

Alabama Power and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) are conducting a demonstration of four different solar PV technologies with microinverters at the Alabama Power headquarters.

Georgia Power and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) are conducting an 18-month study to evaluate how solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems may affect the utility's distribution system.

Georgia Power is conducting a demonstration of seven different solar PV technologies at its headquarters building.

Georgia Power has received regulatory approval to build a 1-MW portfolio of medium-scale solar demonstration projects across the state.

Wind

Southern Company and Georgia Tech partnered on an extensive study of offshore wind potential in the Southeast, identifying and detailing several key challenges that must be addressed.

Southern Company is preparing applications for federal leases to construct meteorological towers off the Georgia coast to collect data for assessing the potential for offshore wind generation.

A wind turbine designed by University of Alabama at Birmingham students has been erected atop the Alabama Power headquarters building to collect research data; wind data also is being collected at Navarre Beach, Florida, and in north Georgia.

Green Energy/Landfill Gas

Subsidiary Gulf Power owns and operates a 3,200-kilowatt landfill gas-to-electricity plant in Escambia County, Florida, that produces enough power to serve 900 homes.

Southern Company subsidiaries, both individually and in partnerships, are offering customers a growing amount of renewable energy options, which may be purchased in “blocks” of green energy from qualified sources.

Georgia Power has received regulatory approval to nearly double – to 5.4 MW – the amount of solar energy it purchases to supply its Green Energy Program.

Hydro

Southern Company is ranked 7th in the nation for hydroelectric power generation, with a combined generating capacity of 2,758 MW. Sixteen MW of new hydro capacity planned for the next five years, and other incremental opportunities are being evaluated.