Wind Energy

The Tennessee Valley Authority adds 535 megawatts of wind power

TVA Wind Power Contracts Activated. TVA wind farm contracts, and now has wind energy contracts with five operating wind farms in the Midwest with a combined 542 wind turbines.

New renewable wind power sources that began delivery in January to the TVA power grid are:

201 megawatts from ENEL Green Power’s Caney River wind farm in Elk County, Kan.
150 megawatts from NextEra Energy Resources’ White Oak Energy Center in McLean County, Ill.
101 megawatts from EDP Renewables North America’s Lost Lakes wind farm in Dickinson County, Iowa.
An additional 83 megawatts from EDP Renewables’ Pioneer Prairie site in Howard and Mitchell counties, Iowa, which began producing wind energy for TVA in 2010.

With these newly added wind power sources, TVA now has contracts with five operating wind farm plants in the Midwest with a combined 542 wind turbines as a result of a 2008 request for proposals for more than 1,500 megawatts of renewable and clean energy.

TVA’s total wind energy now activated is 950 megawatts, or more than 3 million megawatt hours annually. That amount provides enough electricity to power more than 200,000 homes in the TVA service region.

‘Delivery of power from these contracts and others expected to be activated in the near future will enable TVA to continue advancing towards its vision to become one of the nation’s leaders in clean energy by 2020,’ said John Trawick, TVA senior vice president for Commercial Operations and Pricing.

All TVA wind turbines contracts are subject to satisfying applicable environmental requirements and securing firm transmission paths.

TVA’s renewable and clean energy capacity is now more than 5,600 megawatts, including hydroelectric production at its dams, wind contracts, TVA’s Generation Partners and Renewable Standard Offer initiatives, and other TVA-owned wind, solar, landfill methane and biomass generation.

TVA’s clean energy contracts include 300 megawatts from Iberdrola’s Cayuga Ridge wind farm in Illinois, which began generating in 2010. TVA has not yet purchased Renewable Energy Credits associated with this contract but retains the option to do so in the future.

By José Santamarta, www.tva.com/