DailyViews: Editorial

Power plant plan promising

Georgia Power Co. is looking at an idea that has tremendous win-win potential for the power company and Southwest Georgia.

Officials with Georgia Power announced Friday that they are looking at the idea of converting Plant Mitchell, a coal-firing plant that company officials say is past its prime, into a power plant fueled by biomass.

If the plan, which is in its final stages of the evaluation process, is approved, the plant on 243 acres at the Dougherty-Mitchell County line would become the first wood-burning power plant in Georgia and one of the biggest wood-burning plants in the nation.

In an era where fuel costs, especially oil, are skyrocketing, this has the potential to generate energy at a reasonable cost while also having a friendlier impact on the environment — and providing some badly needed jobs to boot.

Jay Smith, Albany area manager for Georgia Power, said that the two older coal units at Plant Mitchell were retired several years ago and a third, a 155-megawatt coal-fired unit, is not competitive with the utility company’s standard coal units that produce 600-1,000 megawatts of energy. “This one is sitting here, it’s past its prime and it’s time to do something with it,” Smith said.

That sounds like a good idea. In doing something with Plant Mitchell, Georgia Power would make use of 1 million tons of the 12 million tons of surplus wood biomass left behind after harvest within 100 miles of the plant, creating, according to company estimates, 50-75 jobs in forestry and transportation in the process.

The use of biomass reduces sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions, plus the renewable energy source absorbs carbon in the air as it grows, Smith said.

Burned in the retrofitted plant would be woody plants, treetops, needles and other parts left behind on the forest floor after timber is harvested, said Lynn Wallace, a spokesperson for Georgia Power.

“The utilities do not turn a blind eye to the environment, and this is proof of that,” Smith said.

Fuels such as biomass are not as energy dense as coal or oil, so the refurbished plant would not generate the same amount of energy burning it. Company officials estimate Plant Mitchell would create a full load of about 96 megawatts of energy instead of the present 155 megawatts.

The conversion is part of Georgia Power Co.’s Diverse Energy Plan — which also includes the addition of two nuclear generators at Plant Vogtle — that the utility filed Friday with the Georgia Public Service Commission. If approved, the conversion process could begin in April 2010 and be completed in about 14 months, Wallace said.

While nuclear energy continues to attract controversy, it will play a bigger role in American energy production as fossil fuels becomes scarcer and most expensive. A plan that moves away from hydrocarbons and toward cleaner and renewable energy sources is something the PSC should get behind.

The Albany Herald Editorial Board

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