Good Energy
Succeeds through Innovation
Southern Company enjoys a long-standing reputation as a leader in research and development. Even as work continues on the new nuclear units at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle, the company and its subsidiaries are actively innovating on many other fronts.
Integrated Effects Test at TerraPower’s laboratory in Everett, WA
Good Energy
Succeeds through Innovation
Southern Company enjoys a long-standing reputation as a leader in research and development. Even as work continues on the new nuclear units at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle, the company and its subsidiaries are actively innovating on many other fronts.
Integrated Effects Test at TerraPower’s laboratory in Everett, WA
Southern Company and TerraPower completed the installation of an Integrated Effects Test at TerraPower’s laboratory in Everett, WA. The largest chloride salt system in the world to be built by the nuclear sector, this is a landmark achievement in the development of the Molten Chloride Fast Reactor–a promising Generation-IV nuclear technology. The goal is to deliver a commercial-scale, cost-effective, carbon-free molten salt reactor energy source by 2035.
Georgia Power and Mitsubishi Power, in collaboration with EPRI, were able to successfully blend hydrogen fuel and natural gas at Plant McDonough-Atkinson. The project was the first in North America to validate a blend of 20% hydrogen in an advanced-class natural gas turbine, resulting in an approximately 7% reduction in carbon emissions compared with units that burn only natural gas. This demonstration paves the way for additional research on potential long-term uses of existing infrastructure in clean energy production.
Dr. Kathryn Huff, assistant secretary, U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, at the Integrated Effects Test commissioning ceremony
Georgia Power’s Plant McDonough-Atkinson
Plant McDonough-Atkinson control room during hydrogen blending
In November, Southern Company and other Southeastern utilities established a coalition to pursue federal funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to develop a regional hydrogen hub in the Southeast.
The Southeastern Energy Exchange Market (SEEM), of which Southern Company is a founding member, began operations in 2022. SEEM facilitates sub-hourly, bilateral trading of energy and allows participants to buy and sell power closer to the time the energy is consumed. SEEM lowers costs to customers and optimizes renewable energy resources.
Southern Company Gas is working to bring renewable natural gas production to market, potentially leading to significant emissions reductions, job creation and economic investment.
Mississippi Power supported the chartering of the first electric school bus in the state of Mississippi, replacing a diesel bus. The new bus can transport students within a 138-mile range on a single charge.