The Tennessee Valley Authority is seeking proposals from renewable energy developers for up to 200 megawatts of renewable energy that can be brought online by the end of 2022. Proposals may include a battery storage component, TVA noted.
TVA said in the April 1 request for proposals that it is interested in procuring up to 200 MW of new stand-alone renewable energy resources or renewable energy plus battery energy storage systems (BESS), including all the associated environmental attributes.
All resources must be located in the TVA service territory or delivered to TVA’s interface with neighboring transmission systems. If any proposal is delivered to the TVA interface, it must have all of the cost components included for an all-in energy price, the RFP said.
Notwithstanding the up to 200 MW target, “TVA reserves the right to vary from this target energy quantity based on evaluation of bids that are received,” the RFP said, noting that any transaction resulting from the RFP will be in the form of a power purchase agreement.
TVA said that proposals may contain storage that may be charged during periods when full potential export is not being taken by TVA.
The energy storage should be sized to provide sufficient storage capacity equal to the greatest amount of energy to be provided for a continuous four-hour discharge during a 4-hour period with 380 annual cycles, the RFP noted. The project must specify either an AC-coupled or DC-coupled solution, “bearing in mind that TVA is seeking the least-cost option.”
Flexibility in charging/discharging periods will be necessary due to uncertainty in demand profiles. The proposed storage may be charged by the renewable facility or through grid charging that would be configured in order to provide the most economic price to TVA, the solicitation said.
TVA noted that in 2017 it issued a similar 200 MW request to developers. That solicitation resulted in nearly 675 MW of solar power being developed to supply new renewable energy to Facebook and Google data centers.
TVA expects to triple its solar portfolio by 2021 as utility-scale solar installations become an increasingly economical option. This growth also aligns to increased demand from large business and industrial customers looking to locate operations in the Tennessee Valley, TVA said.
Proposals in response to the RFP are due to TVA by May 15, 2019.
The RFP is available here.
