TVA Adds Another Solar Project To Its Green Invest program

Danish energy company Ørsted has completed a 227-megawatt (MW) solar project in Alabama for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

The Muscle Shoals photovoltaic solar project in Colbert County has a long-term power purchase agreement with TVA. The project will support the sustainability goals of Facebook’s data center in Huntsville, Alabama that just started operations.

TVA’s Green Invest program is available to businesses and local power companies in TVA’s territory.

In May, TVA announced a new Green Invest partnership with Facebook and RWE Renewables that will build a 150-MW solar facility near Millington, Tenn. Facebook will use 110 MW of the solar energy to support their data center operations in Gallatin, Tenn., and the broader Tennessee Valley.

In January 2020, TVA announced a partnership with Nashville Electric Service and Vanderbilt University for a 35-MW solar project in Bedford County, Tennessee. In March 2020, TVA entered into a deal to secure 212 MW of solar power for Knoxville Utilities Board’s customers.

Since 2018, TVA’s Green Invest program has attracted nearly $2.7 billion in solar investment and procured over 2,100 MW of solar power on behalf of its customers.

Since 2005, TVA says it has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 63 percent. With a variety of initiatives, including long-term customer partnerships for Green Invest projects, the utility hopes to reduce its emissions to 70 percent by 2030, 80 percent by 2035, and to achieve net-zero emission generation by 2050.