Innovative Solutions
Southern Company shapes the future of energy through innovative and sustainable solutions. Our diverse research and development portfolio explores a full spectrum of solutions to address the energy industry’s emerging challenges, while meeting the immediate and future needs of customers.
Building Smart Neighborhoods
These first-of-a-kind Smart Neighborhoods are real-world R&D projects within Southern Company’s footprint designed to help inform how energy could be produced, delivered and consumed in the future. Southern Company, its electric operating companies and key partners are researching what technologies will be commonplace in the average home in 2040.
The neighborhoods provide customers with state-of-the-art home construction, distributed energy resources – like battery energy storage and solar – as well as smart home appliances and technologies. Project partners include the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Electric Power Research Institute and key technology vendors.
Breakthroughs in next generation carbon management
The power of Renewable Natural Gas
Did you know that the waste from cows and food scraps can help keep your house warm? This naturally occurring waste produces methane that can be captured and transformed into a sustainable fuel called Renewable Natural Gas (RNG). Integrating RNG into existing natural gas infrastructure can reduce emissions without costly upgrades, improve local air quality, create high-paying clean-energy jobs and promote locally sourced natural gas.
National Carbon Capture Center
The National Carbon Capture Center drives innovation in next-generation carbon management technologies. Managed and operated by Southern Company, our globally recognized facility plays a pivotal role in accelerating the commercial deployment of cost-effective technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and industrial sources.
Developing fourth-generation nuclear reactor technology
Terra Power
Southern Company, TerraPower, the U.S. Department of Energy and other partners are leading in advancement of the first-of-a-kind Molten Chloride Fast Reactor (MCFR), one of the most promising Generation-IV nuclear technologies under development. Culminating years of separate effects testing, the joint effort has completed installation of the Integrated Effects Test – the world’s largest chloride salt system developed by the nuclear sector.
Another key project is the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment at Idaho National Laboratory, which aims to generate important learnings to facilitate future deployment of fast spectrum salt reactors. Through these and other strategic collaborations, Southern Company is also working modernize and streamline regulatory mechanisms essential in delivering technologies to achieve a net-zero future.
Accelerate development of low-carbon energy technologies
LCRI
Southern Company is an anchor sponsor of the low-carbon R&D joint venture, LCRI, that partners EPRI with the GTI Energy. The collaboration between the electric and gas sectors aims to advance global, economywide deep carbon reductions. The goal of the initiative is to accelerate the development and demonstration of pathways to low- and zero-carbon energy technologies, such as hydrogen, renewable natural gas and bioenergy for large-scale development.
Advancing new technologies and business model innovations to the energy industry
Energy Impact Partners
Southern Company is a founding partner of Energy Impact Partners (EIP), the largest utility-backed clean tech investor coalition in the world with over $4.5 billion in assets under management across a platform of diversified strategies. Southern Company is an investor in several funds across the platform. EIP conducts extensive research to identify emerging companies who are advancing new technologies and business model innovations of strategic significance to our industry. Through our investment in EIP, we collaborate with industry peers with the common goal to drive new revenue growth, maximize operational efficiencies and meet customers’ evolving energy needs.
Developing next-generation clean hydrogen technologies
Department of Energy
Developing Next-Generation Clean Hydrogen Technologies
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Southern Company R&D funding for the Novel Microbial Electrolysis System for Conversion of Biowastes into Low-Cost Renewable Hydrogen project. Southern Company Gas leads the project in collaboration with partners, Electro-Active Technologies and T2M Global, to advance a technology for production of clean hydrogen from waste. The project’s approach targets distributed generation of hydrogen from food waste, diverting the waste from landfills and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from the food value chain and the transportation sector.
Reflecting its goal of achieving net-zero operations while providing customers and communities with affordable, reliable and resilient energy, Southern Company is an active member of the Hydrogen Council, a global CEO-led coalition of companies with a united vision and long-term ambition for hydrogen to foster the clean energy transition.
R & D
Demonstrating Fuel Blending of Hydrogen and Natural Gas
As a leader in research and development (R&D), Southern company believes hydrogen technology can be one of many solutions to help deliver a sustainable future. Over the past five years, Southern Company has invested approximately $16 million of its R&D budget in hydrogen projects. We intend for these investments to support our mission of providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy to customers and further economic development and growth in our communities.
Georgia Power
500 MW of new battery energy storage systems in Georgia
Georgia Power has identified locations for 500 MW of new battery energy storage systems (BESS) authorized by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) earlier this year as part of the company's 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) Update. The portfolio of BESS resources proposed helps address the resource needs identified in the 2023 IRP Update in a cost-effective and strategic manner. Each of the proposed resources will consist of 4-hour duration BESS.
Once developed, these projects will serve as dispatchable capacity resources that will provide customers with a reliable and economical source of electricity for the winter of 2026/2027. These resources will add to Georgia Power's diverse generation portfolio, helping to ensure the company has the mix of technologies necessary to provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable electric service for all customers during all hours.
Alabama Power
Alabama’s first utility-scale battery storage system
Alabama Power will develop the state’s first utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) on the former Plant Gorgas site in Walker County, which reliably powered Alabama for more than a century. The new Gorgas Battery Facility will store up to 150 MW of electricity generated by other Alabama Power resources. 150 MW is equivalent to the capacity needed to power about 9,000 homes.
The 7-acre facility will be designed as a standalone system that will connect to and charge directly from the electric grid – the interconnected system of high voltage wires and equipment that moves large amounts of electricity across the state.
