Georgia Power has laid out a plan to squeeze more output from the four older reactors it operates in Georgia, adding capacity without building new transmission. The utility, a subsidiary of Southern Company, filed the proposal with the Georgia Public Service Commission as part of its Integrated Resource Plan.
The plan calls for extended power uprates at Vogtle units 1 and 2 and at Hatch units 1 and 2. Between 2028 and 2034 the four units would gain a combined 112 MWe, broken out as 27 MWe each at Vogtle 1 and 2, 30 MWe at Hatch 1 and 28 MWe at Hatch 2. Georgia Power described the uprate process as an extensive analysis of plant systems and components to verify capability and identify needed modifications.
At Hatch, the utility also plans a Maximum Extended Load Line Limit enhancement, which raises thermal power without increasing core flow. At Vogtle, it is weighing a shift of units 1 and 2 to a 24 month refuelling cycle, which would extend run times and cut the number of outages.
The driver is load growth. Georgia Power projects roughly 8,200 MW of electrical load growth over six years, an increase of more than 2,200 MWe in peak demand by the end of 2030 against its earlier forecast. Hatch comprises two 900 MWe boiling water reactors co-owned with Oglethorpe Power, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Dalton Utilities. Vogtle now runs four pressurised water reactors, including the AP1000 units 3 and 4.
Source: Nuclear Engineering International - https://www.neimagazine.com/news/vogtle-hatch-power-uprates-planned/