Georgia Power and an Atlanta-based solar company have formed a partnership to build a series of solar projects across the state to produce 19 megawatts of power.
The projects are part of a 50-megawatt solar initiative approved by the state's Public Service Commission last year. One megawatt can power about 450 homes or one SuperTarget store.
Georgia Power already is buying one megawatt of solar energy from the Atlanta company Solar Design & Development. That solar project, built on 10 acres in Upson County, is providing enough electricity to power about 300 homes, the company said.
Additional projects will be in Meriwether County southwest of Atlanta and Mitchell county in South Georgia. The projects will be co-owned by Origis Energy, a financier and operator of large solar plants in the U.S. and Europe.
Georgia Power came up with a plan to get 50 MW of its power from solar energy last year after state utility regulator Bubba McDonald asked the company to do so. Simon Solar, a company near Social Circle, has agreed to build the other 30 MW of solar projects.
Separately, Georgia Power's parent, Atlanta-based Southern Co., and Ted Turner's Turner Renewable Energy have bought a 20-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant in Nevada.
The two companies bought the Apex Solar Project from SunEdison. They already have built a 30-megawatt solar facility in New Mexico.
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