Cooling towers are seen at the nuclear-powered Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Waynesboro, Georgia, US. (Reuters Photo)
By Gavin Maguire
LITTLETON, Colorado- New nuclear power plants in Georgia have helped flip the state’s power mix so that electricity from clean energy sources has exceeded fossil fuel electricity output for the first time.
Georgia’s higher nuclear generation has in turn helped to slash the carbon intensity of power generation within the Southern Services power system, which produces electricity and power for most of Georgia, Alabama and parts of Mississippi.
The generation mix reversal and drop in power emissions demonstrate the impact that an expanded nuclear fleet can have on energy systems, despite the substantial cost overruns and construction delays that beset the Georgia reactors.
The Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Waynesboro, Georgia is the largest nuclear plant in the United States, with a power generating capacity of 4,536 megawatts (MW).
The first two reactor units entered production in the late 1980’s, and between 2012 and 2022 generated around 27 percent of Georgia’s electricity, according to data from Ember.
Since the beginning of 2023, that nuclear generation share has climbed to 30 percent thanks to the start-up of the final two reactors at the Vogtle site.
Preliminary construction on the final two reactors – Vogtle 3 and Vogtle 4 – began in 2009, and were originally slated to cost around $14 billion, according to a Vogtle Construction Monitoring report.
However, a series of development delays and massive cost overruns meant the final reactors only entered production within the last 18 months, nearly 15 years after project commencement.
The final bill for units 3 and 4 was over $35 billion, according to a report titled Plant Vogtle: The True Cost of Nuclear Power in the US issued this year by a group of Georgia consumer advocates.
The report’s authors claim that the final cost of electricity generated by the Vogtle reactors will be $10,784 per kilowatt hour (KWh), which would make it “the most expensive electricity in the world.”
In contrast, electricity produced from wind farms, solar projects and natural gas-fired plants ranges from $1,000 to $1,500 per KWh, the report added. – Reuters
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