Plant Vogtle Unit 4 Connects to Electric Grid for First Time

The second of two additional nuclear reactors being built at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle has begun generating electricity and connecting to the electric grid for the first time.

Connecting to the grid is part of ongoing startup testing for Unit 4 at the nuclear plant south of Augusta. Next, operators will continue raising power at the reactor to 100%.

Vogtle Unit 3, the first of the new reactors, went into commercial operation last summer. Unit 4 is expected to go online during the second quarter of this year.

The latest progress update on the project, which Georgia Power announced last Friday, follows the Feb. 14 announcement that Unit 4 had safely reached initial criticality, a key step during startup testing that shows operators have safely started the reactor.

The state Public Service Commission (PSC) voted in December to let Georgia Power pass on to customers almost $7.6 billion of its costs in building the two additional nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, the first in the United States since the 1980s.

The project was originally expected to cost $14 billion when the PSC approved it in 2009 but has more than doubled due to a series of cost overruns and delays in the construction schedule. The project will increase the average monthly residential customer’s bill by $8.95.