TVA to negotiate for more wind, solar power

TENNESSEE - Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority agreed to buy up to 2,000 megawatts of power from wind, solar or biomass generators if such renewable energy is cost competitive.

The TVA board authorized the utility's staff to negotiate with outside suppliers for the renewable energy. Earlier this year, TVA received more than 60 proposals for renewable power generation, most of which involved wind generation from the Midwest, TVA Vice President Van Wardlaw said.

The federal utility is looking to buy more renewable power to help prepare for an expected federal mandate that electric utilities generate a bigger share of their power from renewable sources. Congress is debating several measures that would require 20 percent of a utility's power to come from either wind, solar, biomass or new hydro generation.

"I consider this is to be a very important step forward for TVA," said Howard Thrailkill, chairman of the TVA board's operations committee. "This gives me particular pride that we have gone this far."

But TVA officials said most of the proposals for the renewable energy came from wind generators outside of the Tennessee Valley.

"These are different sources than we have used in the past and there will be some challenges" getting delivery of the power from distant sites, Mr. Wardlaw said.

Even with the renewable purchases authorized today, TVA will have to secure other sources of renewable power if Congress sets a 20 percent renewable portfolio standard for 2020.

When the wind is blowing and the sun is out, the 2,000 megawatts TVA could purchase under today's action would be equal to nearly the entire output of the twin-reactor Sequoyah Power nuclear plant. But TVA officials stressed that wind and solar power don't operate all the time, so the actual net output from the renewable sources over the course of a year would be only about one-third as much as the Sequoyah plant.

"We expect the market to change rapidly in the next few years," Mr. Thrailkill said. "But it's important for us to get started."

Related News

three mile island nuclear power plant

Three Mile Island at center of energy debate: Let struggling nuclear plants close or save them

THREE MILE ISLAND - Three Mile Island is at the center of a new conversation about the future of nuclear energy in the United States nearly 40 years after a partial meltdown at the Central Pennsylvania plant sparked a national debate about the safety of nuclear power.

The site is slated to close in just two years unless Pennsylvania or a regional power transmission operator delivers some form of financial relief, says Exelon, the Chicago-based power company that operates the plant.

That has drawn the Keystone State into a growing debate: whether to let struggling nuclear plants shut down if they cannot…

READ MORE
manhattan freeway

The Need for Electricity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

READ MORE

powerline workers

PG&E keeps nearly 60,000 Northern California customers in the dark to reduce wildfire risk

READ MORE

frisco solar power

Flowing with current, Frisco, Colorado wants 100% clean electricity

READ MORE

Purdue: As Ransomware Attacks Increase, New Algorithm May Help Prevent Power Blackouts

READ MORE