Georgia energy regulators gave preliminary approval Thursday to a plan by Georgia Power Co. to build a solar power project at a U.S. Marine Corps base just outside Albany, Ga.

The state Public Service Commission’s Energy Committee recommended a proposed agreement between the Atlanta-based utility and the Department of the Navy calling for a solar facility with a generating capacity of 46 megawatts at the Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany (MCLB).

The plan, which the full commission will consider next week, would be the fifth Georgia Power solar project slated for siting at a military base in the Peach State. The utility is building three 30-megawatt projects at Army bases near Augusta, Columbus and Savannah, and a fourth 30-megawatt project at the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base near St. Mary’s.

Together, the five solar projects will replace the generating capacity lost when Georgia Power decided not to convert its oil-burning Plant Mitchell south of Albany to biomass.