ATLANTA – Southern Company today announced it has expanded its current research into biomass for power generation by testing a process to gasify biomass. The two-year project began last fall in Wilsonville, Alabama, at the Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF).

The biomass gasification project is a joint effort utilizing both funding and technical expertise of Southern Company, the Electric Power Research Institute and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Southern Company will provide overall management for the project.

Biomass gasification has the potential to be cost-competitive when compared with other forms of renewable energy.

Wood in various forms will be ground and fed into a high-pressure gasifier. The biomass will then be gasified to evaluate performance of the technology and the quality of the gas over a variety of operating conditions. Additional research will be performed on ways to clean the biomass-derived gas to meet stringent environmental requirements.

The PSDF is a joint effort of the DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory and several of the world’s leading energy technology and supply companies. Southern Company manages the facility on behalf of the project participants. The PSDF gives U.S. industry a cost-effective, adaptable facility for testing advanced power-generation systems.

Since the spring of 2001, Southern Company has been testing a form of biomass, known as switchgrass, by co-firing it with coal to produce electricity. Switchgrass is a native prairie grass that grows well in the South. In separate tests conducted at Alabama Power’s Plant Gadsden and Georgia Power’s Plant Mitchell, switchgrass was co-fired with coal to quantify the impact on environmental emissions and to determine the best method for handling this type of biomass. Based on the successful results achieved from these preliminary tests, Southern Company committed to a three-year demonstration of biomass co-firing at Plant Gadsden.

“We’re encouraged by our results achieved so far with switchgrass co-firing,” said Charles Goodman, Southern Company senior vice president of research and environmental policy. “By advancing our research to study pressurized, high efficiency biomass gasification, we’re hoping to further evaluate cost-effective ways to use this environmentally-friendly energy source for future power generation.”

As an industry leader in finding cleaner ways to produce electricity, Southern Company recognizes the importance of a diversified fuel portfolio in meeting future energy demands. In 2002, Plant Gadsden’s switchgrass pilot project won awards from the Electric Power Research Institute and the Southeastern Electric Exchange.

With more than 4 million customers and nearly 39,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states, a growing competitive generation company, an energy services business and a competitive retail natural gas business, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are 15 percent below the national average. Southern Company has been named three consecutive years No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s “America’s Most Admired Companies” list in the Electric and Gas Utility industry. Southern Company has been ranked the nation’s top energy utility in the American Customer Satisfaction Index five years in a row. Southern Company has more than 500,000 shareholders, making its common stock one of the most widely held in the United States. Visit the Southern Company Web site at www.southerncompany.com.

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