by Dave Williams | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Power has received delivery of the first of three new gas turbines at Plant Yates near Newnan, the Atlanta-based utility announced Friday.
The turbine was assembled by Mitsubishi Power in Savannah and transported to Plant Yates by truck and rail.
The new gas units are the first to be added to Georgia Power’s electrical generation fleet in a decade. When all three are in service, they will provide 1,300 megawatts of generating capacity.
“The new natural gas unit at Plant Yates will be a great addition to our fleet, using existing property and infrastructure to deliver the best overall value for customers and providing exciting new investment at a plant that has been an economic driver in Coweta County for decades,” said Rick Anderson, senior vice president and senior production officer for Georgia Power.
The state-of-the-art gas turbines will provide higher output and greater efficiency than previous generations of the technology. They also feature built-in flexibility to run on oil if natural gas becomes unavailable.
Environmental groups and consumer advocates have raised concerns that adding new gas-fired units to Georgia Power’s fleet will extend the company’s reliance on carbon emitting fossil fuels. They also argue natural gas prices are highly volatile.
The Georgia Public Service Commission has approved construction of the new units as part of a broader request for additional generating capacity to meet growing customer demand for electricity, primarily for large-load customers including data centers.
In addition to the new turbines at Plant Yates, Georgia Power also is planning to construct new gas units at Plant Bowen near Cartersville, Plant Wansley near Carrollton, and Plant McIntosh near Rincon.
Building the three new turbines at Plant Yates will generate about 600 construction jobs and add 15 permanent jobs to the plant’s current workforce of 60. The units are expected to be online by the end of 2027.
