TVA needs to hit refresh! This is not a difficult concept. I’ll even include a link to the WikiHow page on how to do it. But if decision-makers fail to do that, the information they’re accessing from the internet may be outdated and their decisions may be misguided.
Solar energy is a dynamic field. A lot can change in a year. Decisions need to be based on current reality and future projections. Pricing and availability of solar modules from 2022 are largely irrelevant for decisions being made now.
TVA, however, has relied on outdated and inaccurate information about the solar market in its Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS) just released last month for retiring and replacing the Kingston Fossil Plant (nine coal-fired units in operation since 1954-1955). The Final EIS is the last step before the TVA Board of Directors makes a decision on whether to replace the coal plant with another fossil fuel or clean energy. The TVA Board needs to require TVA staff to redo its analysis of the two options with accurate information before making a final decision.
TVA assessed two options:
Alternative A: a combined-cycle (CC) gas unit paired with 16 dual-fuel Aeroderivative (Aero) combustion turbine (CT) units plus 3- to 4-MW solar on-site, a 100-MW battery energy storage system, and transmission investments. These would all be on-site at the Kingston Reservation 35 miles west of Knoxville — and would require a 122-mile gas pipeline with a gas compressor station, which would pass through Roane, Morgan, Fentress, Overton, Jackson, and Smith counties.
Alternative B: multiple solar generation and energy storage facilities at alternate locations, portions of which would be in Eastern Tennessee — along with the necessary transmission.
SACE has identified a fundamental flaw in the EIS. I’d like to highlight three examples from Section 1.2.3.3.1 (on pages 11-12 of the 845 page document) with emphasis added:
“The short-term effects of the IRA [Inflation Reduction Act] thus far have resulted in increased demand, higher prices, and a limited supply of resources needed for renewable technologies (Solar Energy Industries Association [SEIA] 2022).”
“Solar generation and energy storage facilities would require the development of multiple solar generating facilities and therefore are subject to market factors, such as variable costs, supply chain disruptions, and limited availability of materials. Solar panels are primarily produced overseas, and, at this time, the U.S. has little competitive onshore solar manufacturing capability (USDOE 2022, SEIA 2022).“
“The increased demand and subsequent increase in cost and limited availability of resources has resulted in a reversal of a decades-old trend of decreasing solar prices, and many solar projects being postponed or canceled as a result. While the IRA incentivizes the transition of the solar supply chain to the U.S., it is projected that it will take 3 to 5 years for the domestic supply chain to mature and ease the current constraints on the solar industry (SEIA 2022).”
A common element across these three assertions is that they all cite information from the Solar Energy Industries Association from 2022. Tracing that lead to page 828 of the Final EIS document (Literature Cited), we find:
Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). 2022. Solar Market Insight Report 2022 Q2. Available at [URL]: https://www.seia.org/research-resources/solar-market-insight-report-2022-q2. (Accessed December 2023).
SEIA is a reputable trade-association and it, no-doubt, reported the supply chain disruptions in 2022. So did SACE. But SEIA updates that Solar Market Insight Report on a quarterly basis. By the time TVA accessed that Q2 2022 report in December 2023, SEIA would have prepared six more recent/updated versions.
The Q4 2023 version was released on December 7, 2023. And one of the things they express is that:
“The strong deployment growth in Q3 2023 has largely been due to module supply chain stabilization within the past year.” U.S. Solar Market Insight: December 7, 2023 [emphasis added]
In fact, the US installed more solar in 2023 than ever before.
The Q4 2023 Solar Market Insights report goes on to say that a combination of factors:
“pushed US module prices down 10-15% over the same timeframe as supply constraints have alleviated.” [emphasis added]
And, as for the claim that “the U.S. has little competitive onshore solar manufacturing capability” and that “it will take 3 to 5 years for the domestic supply chain to mature”… well, Qcells in Dalton, Georgia, just south of the TVA service territory, has become the largest solar factory in the western hemisphere.
The Final EIS cover sheet (page i) estimates that preparation of the report cost $2.2 million. Wow! For that kind of money, they should be able to get accurate, up-to-date information. The TVA Board should insist on it. Otherwise, the Board runs the risk of making a decision based on bad intel that saddles the people of the Tennessee Valley with expensive and dirty energy for the next generation.
TVA can do better.
#CleanUpTVA
The post TVA relies on out-dated info to stall solar progress and justify fossil gas appeared first on SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
TVA relies on out-dated info to stall solar progress and justify fossil gas
Weather Guard Lightning Tech
Terra-GEN, Nordex & Siemens Gamesa Improve
Terra-Gen’s 238.5 MW project in Texas is now fully operational and the Philippines just awarded approvals for more than 10 GWs of renewables. Plus Nordex and Siemens Gamesa are optimistic about their future.
Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!
There’s news from the wind industry this week. And for once… the headlines tell a story of growth. Down in Hidalgo County, Texas… something worth celebrating happened this week. Terra-GEN commissioned the Monte Cristo ONE Windpower Project. Two hundred thirty-eight-point-five megawatts. Fully operational. The wind facility will generate more than 850 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity every year. Enough to power roughly 81,000 homes. And the power? Already sold. Long-term purchase agreements with two corporate customers. Construction created about 280 jobs at peak activity. More than 490,000 work hours. Not one lost-time incident. They upgraded 11 miles of state roads. Twenty-five miles of county roads. Over its lifetime… the project will deliver more than 100 million dollars to the local community. Property taxes. Landowner payments. Other economic contributions. “It is an honor,” said John O’Connor, Chief Financial Officer for Terra-GEN, “to celebrate the hard work and dedication of the hundreds of men and women who made the commissioning of the Monte Cristo wind project possible.” Meanwhile… halfway around the world in the Philippines… the government just awarded approvals for more than 10 gigawatts of renewable power. That’s ten-point-two gigawatts, to be exact. One hundred twenty-three winning bidders. Solar. Storage. And wind. Onshore wind alone claimed two-point-five gigawatts of that capacity. Twenty-one projects. All set to deliver power by 2029. The Philippines is targeting 50 percent renewable generation by 2040. And they’re not waiting around. The “overwhelming response,” said the department of energy, “reflects the growing confidence of investors.” Back in Europe… in Germany… Nordex is making moves. The turbine manufacturer just secured orders for 123 megawatts from Denkerwulf. Twenty-five onshore wind turbines. Installation begins in 2027. Commissioning in 2028. And Nordex shares? They’re climbing. Hit a multi-year high this week. Trading at 28 euros and 2 cents. Denkerwulf’S orders for Nordex in 2025 now total nearly 144 megawatts. And last week… Mingyang signed a contract with ORE Catapult… a state-owned British test center. They’re going to test main bearings for Mingyangs offshore 18.5MW turbines in the United Kingdom. “A major milestone,” said Mingyang’S chief technology officer for Europe, Marc Sala. “A decisive breakthrough for our local operations.” Mingyang has big plans for Britain. One-point-five billion pounds in investments. Half for factories. Half for the offshore wind supply chain. Now… over at Siemens Gamesa… things are looking up. The wind business has been struggling. Over four fiscal years… losses totaled eight-point-six billion euros. But Chief Executive Officer Christian Bruch confirmed this week… they’re still targeting profitability by 2027. Break-even by 2026. Revenue for full-year 2025 rose 5 percent to ten-point-three-seven-five billion euros. Losses improved slightly. “The journey towards profitability is going to take time,” said Chief Financial Officer Maria Ferraro. “But I think the team is doing a great job.” They expect a positive fourth quarter in 2026. So there you have it. The wind industry is pushing forward. Two hundred thirty-eight-point-five megawatts commissioned in Texas. One hundred twenty-three projects approved in the Philippines. One hundred twenty-three megawatts ordered in Germany. Eighteen-point-five megawatt turbines heading to Britain for testing. And Siemens Gamesa … now seeing light at the end of the tunnel. The numbers tell the story. Things are beginning to stabilize – and there’s hope for the future. That’s the state of the wind industry on the 17th of November 2025. Join us tomorrow for the Uptime Wind Energy podcast.
https://weatherguardwind.com/terragen-nordex-siemens/
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