The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directorsapproved the nation’s first-of-its-kind pilot program to determine if closed coal ash storage sites are suitable for utility-scale solar projects. Pending environmental reviews and regulatory approval, the $216 million pilot project would explore an innovative approach to repurpose a closed coal ash site at the Shawnee Fossil Plant to advance TVA’s clean energy efforts.
“The space between execution and aspiration is where innovation lives,” said Jeff Lyash, TVA president and CEO. “Achieving a net-zero clean energy future is critical to our nation’s energy security goals and requires innovative thinking and exploring new technologies. TVA was created as an innovation company and is uniquely positioned to demonstrate these technologies for the rest of the industry – both in the U.S. and around the world.”
TVA’s Shawnee Fossil Plant is located on 1,696 acres approximately 10 miles northwest of Paducah, Kentucky. Shawnee has nine active generating units and one retired unit.
“TVA is outcome-focused and there is no single answer to reducing carbon emissions,” said Lyash. “Our path to a clean energy future may not always be linear, but our end goal is to follow a defined strategy to accelerate the process across the industry and expand carbon-free technologies that will power our nation’s sustainable clean energy economy without impacting reliability, resiliency or affordability.”
News item from TVA
