Georgia Power advances battery storage projects across Georgia

US-based electric utility Georgia Power has commenced construction of new battery energy storage systems (BESS) across the state of Georgia, totalling 765MW capacity.

The systems, sanctioned by the Georgia Public Service Commission through the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), are set to provide rapidly dispatchable power to customers.

The announcement follows the company’s inaugural BESS facility at Mossy Branch, which began operations in 2024.

Construction is progressing at four strategic BESS locations across Georgia: the 128MW Robins BESS in Bibb County, which will be co-located with an existing solar facility near Robins Air Force Base, the Moody BESS in Lowndes County, the Hammond BESS in Floyd County and the McGrau Ford Phase I and II BESS in Cherokee County.

The Hammond location utilises existing infrastructure, which reduces the need for new transmission substations and associated costs. Burns & McDonnell is managing the project, with a projected operational date of June 2026.

These projects also leverage existing infrastructure to minimise construction and interconnection costs. The Hammond and Moody projects are engineered and constructed by Crowder Industrial Construction, with operational dates set for May and November 2026.

The largest of the projects, McGrau Ford Phase I and II BESS in Cherokee County, will have a combined capacity of 530MW. By using company-owned land and the same construction company, Georgia Power aims to achieve efficiencies in contracting and construction.

Burns & McDonnell is also handling these projects, with operational dates expected in September and October 2026.

Georgia Power senior vice-president and senior production officer Rick Anderson said: “At Georgia Power, we work with the Georgia PSC and many other stakeholders to make the investments required for a reliable and resilient power grid, integrating new technologies to better serve our customers today and as Georgia grows.

“As we expand our diverse energy mix to include more renewable energy, which requires careful advance planning and flexibility to accommodate times when that source is not available, these batteries will be an invaluable part of the electric system.” 

Georgia Power is also collaborating with the Georgia PSC to procure an additional 1GW of BESS capacity through competitive bidding and is developing a 13MW demonstration project at Fort Stewart army installation near Savannah, Georgia.

The company is also enhancing customer-sited generation resources, with the 2025 IRP including expansions to the customer-connected solar programme and the launch of a customer-sited solar plus storage pilot, targeting an initial 50MW of capacity.