LITTLETON, Colo., Sept 19 (Askume) – Georgia’s new nuclear power plants are helping transform the state’s electricity mix, allowing electricity from clean energy sources to exceed that from fossil fuels for the first time.
Georgia’s high nuclear power output helps reduce the carbon intensity of electricity generation within the Southern Service Electric system, which provides power and energy to parts of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Shifts in the generation mix and reductions in electricity emissions suggest that expanding the nuclear power fleet could have an impact on the energy system, even if Georgia’s reactors face severe cost overruns and construction delays.
I haven’t seen you for a long time
The Vogley Generating Station in Waynesboro, Georgia is the largest nuclear power plant in the United States, producing 4,536 megawatts (MW).
The first two reactor units, which began production in the late 1980s, will produce about 27% of Georgia’s electricity between 2012 and 2022, according to Amber data.
From the beginning of 2023, the share of nuclear power generation is expected to increase to 30% due to the commissioning of the last two reactors of the Voglut nuclear power plant.
Initial construction of the last two reactors — Vogel 3 and Vogel 4 — began in 2009 and was initially expected to cost about $14 billion, the Vogel Construction Monitor reports.
However, due to development delays and massive cost overruns, the final reactor only began production 18 months later, nearly 15 years after the project began.
A report released this year by a Georgia consumer advocacy group, “Plant Vogtle: The True Cost of Nuclear Power in the United States,” found the final cost of Units 3 and 4 to be more than $35 billion.
The authors of the report claim that the final cost of generating power from the Worli reactor would be $10,784 per kilowatt hour (KWh), making it “the most expensive power in the world”.
By comparison, electricity produced by wind farms, solar projects and natural gas power plants costs $1,000 to $1,500 per kilowatt-hour, the report said.
Up and running
Cost issues aside, with the Voglut plant now fully operational, the impact is becoming increasingly evident.
According to Ember, the Vogel station generated an average of 2,813 gigawatt hours (GWh) per month in Georgia from 2018 to 2022, accounting for about 27% of the state’s total electricity supply.
Since Voglut 3 begins operating in April 2023, total production has risen to an average of 3,500 GWh per month, rising to over 4,600 GWh in May 2024, when Voglut 4 first begins operating.
Change the mix
The rapid increase in electricity generation from nuclear reactors affects Georgia’s electricity mix in several major ways.
First, with the commissioning of the Vogel 4 nuclear power plant, the share of electricity produced by nuclear reactors rose to 37% in May, a full 10 percentage points higher than the long-term average.
Second, with the addition of nuclear and other power generation, the state’s total power generation has reached new heights.
Ember data shows that between January and May, Georgia’s total power generation was 55,634 GWh, a record high for the period and a 12.3% increase compared to the same month in 2023.
Third, high levels of nuclear power generation also boosted Georgia’s total clean electricity generation, which for the first time exceeded power generation from the state’s fossil fuel assets during March, April and May of this year.
The share of clean energy in Georgia’s electricity generation mix reached a record 47% between January and May, compared to 41.5% during the same period last year.
Continued production from Vogel 3 and 4 through the remainder of 2024 could help increase the share of clean energy in the overall mix to close to 50%.
Wider impact
Vogt’s progress is evident across the board, with the carbon intensity of Southern Company’s power system generation reduced by 14% by 2024 compared to the 2023 average.
According to ElectricityMaps.com, by 2024, the Southern Electric system will emit about 427 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated.
The carbon intensity will be 440 g CO2/kWh in 2023 and 467 g CO2/kWh in 2022.
For Georgian electricity consumers, significant reduction in emissions per unit of electricity and increased overall power supply following the completion of the Worli Power Station are beneficial outcomes.
In the long term, the increasing amount of clean energy may become a more important aspect of the energy industry than the final cost of any specific generation asset.
<The views expressed here are those of the author, a Askume columnist.
The views expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Askume News, which is committed to integrity, independence and non-partisanship under the principles of trust.
