Citing continued construction challenges and the need for additional testing time, Georgia Power has pushed back by three months its timeline for the Vogtle units 3 and 4 nuclear powerplant expansion, the first new plant construction in years. The company projects Unit 3 will come on line in the third quarter of 2022, followed by Unit 4 in the second quarter of 2023. “As we’ve said from the beginning of this project, we are going to build these units the right way, without compromising safety and quality to achieve a schedule deadline,” Georgia Power Chairman, President and CEO Chris Womack said in a statement. In October, Unit 3 direct construction was 99% complete, bringing the units 3 and 4 expansion to 95% completion. Vogtle 3 and 4 is one of the largest job-producing construction projects in Georgia, with more than 7,000 workers on site and 800-plus permanent jobs after the units begin operating. 

Photo courtesy Dominion Energy

Dominion Energy

In the latest move to develop Virginia into an offshore wind hub, Dominion Energy and turbine maker Siemens Gamesa say they will build the first U.S. facility to produce blades for offshore wind turbines. The $200-million factory in Portsmouth, Va., will support Dominion’s 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial Project, which the firm anticipates will be the largest offshore wind farm in the U.S. To enable shipping for turbine components, Dominion is also building in Texas the first offshore wind installation ship that complies with the federal Jones Act. 

Southern California Edison 

Battery Energy Storage

Southern California Edison has contracted with renewable energy engineer Ameresco to install 535 MW of battery energy storage at three of the utility’s substations to increase grid reliability by summer 2022. The systems should help meet electricity demand more effectively in the San Joaquin Valley, Rancho Cucamonga and the Long Beach area.  The additional storage will complement long-term capacity contracts SCE completed last year and will bring the utility’s total installed and procured storage capacity to about 2,810 MW. The new systems are expected to be online in August 2022.

NextEra Energy 

Wolf Creek-Blackberry Transmission Line

NextEra Energy Transmission won a contract from the Southwest Power Pool to construct a new 94-mile, 345-kV transmission line between Kansas and Missouri. The transmission line will run from the Wolf Creek substation in Kansas to the Blackberry substation in Missouri. SPP approved a recommendation by an industry expert panel to award the project to NextEra Energy Transmission, a subsidiary of Florida electric services company NextEra Energy. The panel evaluated the project through its competitive transmission owner selection process, a federally required process for certain transmission projects. Pending regulatory approvals in Kansas and Missouri, the project should come online in January 2025.