The latest renewable energy news includes announcements from Georgia Power, Electrified Thermal Solutions, Hitachi Energy, and others.
Georgia Power Commissions 128 MW Four-Hour Robins Battery Storage Facility
Georgia Power has started commercial operation of its 128 MW Robins Battery Facility near Warner Robins, Georgia, adding a four-hour BESS alongside the existing Robins Solar Facility. The system can store electricity during periods of lower demand and dispatch it during peak periods, improving grid flexibility and solar utilisation. Burns & McDonnell served as EPC contractor and delivered the project on schedule. Georgia Power has already completed battery facilities in Cherokee and Lowndes counties totalling 579.5 MW and is nearing completion of another 57.5 MW project in Floyd County. Regulators have approved nine additional BESS facilities representing more than 3,000 MW across eight Georgia sites.
Electrified Thermal Solutions and Holcim Plan 20 MWh Industrial Thermal Battery
Electrified Thermal Solutions has signed an agreement with Holcim to deploy a 20 MWh Joule Hive Thermal Battery for a high-temperature industrial process. The system stores electricity as heat and is designed to deliver temperatures approaching those produced by conventional combustion, addressing one of the most difficult challenges in industrial electrification. Cement production requires process temperatures beyond the practical range of many conventional electric-heating technologies, leaving fossil fuels dominant. The initial 20 MWh deployment will demonstrate whether thermal storage can convert renewable electricity into dispatchable industrial heat at commercial scale. For Holcim, the project forms part of a broader electrification roadmap aimed at decarbonising some of its most energy-intensive manufacturing processes.
Hitachi Energy Invests $528 Million in US Transformer Factory to Double Capacity
Hitachi Energy will invest $528 million in a new transformer manufacturing facility in Gallman, Mississippi, its largest single US investment to date. The plant will be more than twice the size of Hitachi Energy’s existing Crystal Springs operation and will double transformer production capacity, helping address equipment shortages affecting renewable projects, transmission expansion and grid modernisation. The investment will create more than 700 jobs and brings Hitachi Energy’s recently announced US manufacturing expansion commitments to approximately $1.5 billion, including projects in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee. Transformer availability has become an increasingly important constraint as utilities connect more solar, wind, storage, data centres and other large electricity loads to the grid.
