TVA issues solicitation for solar, battery storage proposals

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is interested in procuring up to 200 megawatts (MW) of new stand-alone renewable energy resources or renewable energy plus battery energy storage systems (BESS), including all the associated environmental attributes, TVA said in a request for proposals issued on June 8.

TVA is also interested in procuring BESS for existing utility scale solar projects signed as a result of 2017, 2019 or 2020 renewable energy RFPs with power purchase agreements (PPA) that do not have BESS currently.

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.

TVA said it 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 PPA.

Proposals must be submitted by July 20, 2021 and TVA will announce the selected projects this winter.

TVA said the RFP supports TVA’s Green Invest program, which has secured solar farms to meet the renewable energy goals of auto manufacturers, data centers, local power companies, cities, and universities. Since 2018, Green Invest has attracted nearly $2.7 billion in solar investment and procured about 2,100 megawatts of solar.

Jeff Lyash, President and CEO of TVA, discussed the Green Invest program in a recent episode of the American Public Power Association’s Public Power Now podcast.

The RFP is available here.