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Your Georgia Connection: Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479
Georgia Power Lights Up Two U.S. Army Bases Georgia Power is continuing construction on new solar projects at two U.S. Army bases, including Fort Gordon near Augusta. The Fort Gordon project will provide a 30-megawatt, alternating current, solar array on the installation, which will be financed, designed, installed, owned and operated by the power company. “This is an important project for both the military and for Georgia Power,” said John Kraft, company spokesman. “These definitely represent the largest Georgia Powerowned solar projects to date.” When completed, the new solar park will be have the ability to provide roughly 100 percent of peak electrical demand for the installation. The $75 million investment will cover approximately 209 acres and feature 137,640 4 by 6-ft. (1.2 by 1.8 m) panels. The project is part of a U.S. Army commitment to the president to secure one gigawatt of renewable energy and sustainability at U.S. Army installations by 2025. “The Fort Gordon project is well on its way to completion, and by this fall, we expect it to join the Fort Benning
By Cindy Riley
CEG CORRESPONDENT
Georgia Power photo
“This is an important project for both the military and for Georgia Power,” said John Kraft, company spokesman. “These definitely represent the largest Georgia Power-owned solar projects to date.”
project, which was completed at the end of 2015,” said Kraft. “It’s very rewarding to see all of the hard work put into these projects come to fruition.” Kraft said his project represents another expansion of solar in Georgia. “It’s among the first and largest Georgia Power-owned projects, and helps the army meet its renewable energy goals. Plus, we are building the projects to be brought online at or below the company’s ‘avoided cost’, or the amount projected it would cost the company to generate comparable energy from other sources. “It will not put upward pressure on the rates that our customers pay for electricity. It also diversifies our mix of energy resources, which include nuclear, coal, natural gas and renewables, including hydro, biomass, solar and wind.” There have not been significant challenges to date, and construction has reportedly gone smoothly. “Being part of a secure military installation, we have to work around base-access issues, of course, but it has gone well,” said Kraft. “We are finalizing installation work, and
are largely into electrical finishing at this point, including connections, wiring, etc. “Grubbing and grading to clear the land was first, followed by pile driving for the support posts, assembly of the racking structures and then installation of panels and inverters. Work has gone well, on schedule, despite some periods of rain and inclement weather. “We continue to perform electrical work, and extensive testing will take place during the summer.” Kraft said that solar facilities are different from building a traditional power plant because it takes a lot of land for a solar facility, but all the panels are essentially identical. “You don’t have all of the different power plant systems to construct,” Kraft said. “It’s a very horizontal project. It’s all near ground level, whereas most power plants include some vertical element.” To construct the project, earth moving equipment was required initially, followed by pile drivers for the support mounts and trenching equipment for cabling. Then, the racksee POWER page 4