The Tennessee Valley Authority on March 13 issued a request for proposals for up to 200 megawatts of renewable energy that can be brought online by the end of 2023.
TVA said it is interested in procuring up to 200 MW of new stand-alone renewable energy resources or renewable energy plus battery energy storage systems, 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. Solar resources must be tracking. If any proposal is delivered to the TVA interface, it must have all of the cost components included for an all-in energy price.
Notwithstanding the RFP’s stated target, TVA reserves the right to vary from this target energy quantity based on evaluation of bids that are received. Any transaction resulting from the RFP will be in the form of a power purchase agreement.
TVA procured more than 1,300 MW on behalf of customers through similar requests for proposals in 2018 and 2019.
“Large-scale solar costs 80% less than private-scale solar and delivers the best value for renewable energy across TVA’s seven-state service territory,” TVA said. “While TVA does not have a need for more baseload energy, the utility is investing in renewables in response to customer demand for cleaner energy and economic development opportunities to attract companies with sustainability goals.”
Proposals are due to TVA by April 24, 2020 and TVA will announce the selected proposals in the fall 2020 timeframe.
Developers can review TVA’s request for proposal and submit bids at www.tva.com/Information/Doing-Business-with-TVA.
Recent TVA renewable energy news
Tennessee public power utility Knoxville Utilities Board on March 12 said it has entered a first-of-its-kind agreement with TVA to secure 212 megawatts of new-to-the-grid solar power for its customers.
The agreement was made through TVA’s new Green Invest program, which matches demand for green power from large business and industrial customers with cost-effective renewable projects.
The Green Invest program helps customers meet long-term sustainability goals and is modeled on TVA’s work with Facebook and Google, beginning in 2018, to identify new renewable energy for data centers locating in the region.
In January, TVA reported that a partnership between Nashville Electric Service, Vanderbilt University and TVA to bring new, large-scale renewable energy to the Tennessee Valley marked the first of its kind under the Green Invest program.
TVA in February announced the addition of 484 MW of new contracted solar capacity since December, an increase of 44%.
The five new projects resulted from TVA’s 2019 request for proposals for renewable energy projects and have been matched to customer requests for new renewable energy.
In a first for the agency, 200 MW of solar was contracted by TVA for its REC programs available to Valley consumers, both large and small.
The project was awarded to Origis Energy to construct, own, and operate a solar installation in Lowndes County, Mississippi. The project also includes 200 MWh (or 50 MW for 4 hours) of battery energy storage.
Several additional projects have been contracted under TVA’s new Green Invest program on behalf of large business and industrial customers:
- Project developer: OPD Energy, MW: 69.3, Location: Simpson Co., KY
- Project developer: Origis Energy, MW: 100, Location: Obion Co., TN
- Project developer: Silicon Ranch, MW: Up to 80, Location: Madison Co., TN
