Tennessee

  • 600 Workers Take TVA Buyout as Utility Seeks to Cut $1 Billion in Spending

    A spokesperson for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) confirmed that about 600 of the utility’s employees have taken buyouts. Some workers left the company starting in May, while others will exit by the end of September. The TVA on August 21 said the move is part of a plan to reduce costs as the federally owned utility tries to cut nearly $1 billion in spending by 2026.

  • TVA Inks First U.S. Utility PPA for Gen IV Nuclear Power in Landmark Three-Way Deal with Google, Kairos

    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has signed a first-of-its-kind power purchase agreement (PPA) with advanced nuclear technology firm Kairos Power to buy power from the company’s planned Hermes 2, a molten salt nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The deal makes TVA the first U.S. utility to contract for electricity from a Gen-IV reactor. Under […]

  • America’s Nuclear Renaissance: How the TVA Can Lead Our Energy Future

    You may have heard of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), our nation’s largest public utility and source of cheap, clean, and reliable electricity for 10 million people. You may even know that its Board of Directors is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate, making it directly […]

  • Invenergy, Verizon Expand PPAs for Solar Power

    Energy major Invenergy and telecom company Verizon are moving forward with power purchase agreements (PPAs) involving 640 MW of solar energy from projects across four states. The deals announced Feb. 19 mean that Verizon now has procured more than 1 GW of power from Invenergy, the Chicago, Illinois-based renewable energy group considered the largest privately […]

  • TVA Taps Bechtel, Sargent & Lundy, and GE Hitachi for Clinch River SMR Nuclear Project

    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has selected Bechtel, Sargent & Lundy, and GE Hitachi to spearhead the initial planning and design phases for a potential BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at its Clinch River Nuclear site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The collaboration, announced on Jan. 23, will leverage an innovative contracting model designed to streamline […]

  • Group Selected to Develop Pilot Nuclear Fusion Plant

    A global professional services and project management company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, announced it has been chose to develop the pre-concept design for a nuclear fusion pilot plant (FPP). The pilot, announced by Canada-based Canada-based AtkinsRéalis on July 10 as part of Type One Energy’s FusionDirect program, will be a commercial-scale FPP. It will use […]

  • Tennessee Tech Launches New Degree Program in Nuclear Engineering

    The College of Engineering at Tennessee Tech University announced on May 21 the launch of its Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering degree program, only the second such program currently available in Tennessee. The program was formally approved May 16 by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. Tennessee Tech students, transfer students, and incoming first-year students […]

  • First Utility-Scale Solar Project Announced Under TVA Generation Flexibility Program

    An independent power producer and a major electric cooperative—both based in Tennessee—have announced an agreement to partner on a utility-scale solar power installation to serve customers in that region. Nashville-based Silicon Ranch, which specializes in solar energy, agrivoltaics, and carbon solutions, is joining with Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE) to support the 110-MW Copeland Solar Farm […]

  • TVA to Replace Iconic Kingston Coal Plant With 1.5-GW Modern Complex

    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has moved to retire its iconic 1.3-GW Kingston Fossil Plant in Tennessee in 2027 and replace it—with notable urgency—with a 1.5-GW modern complex featuring a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant, aero-derivative turbines, 100 MW of battery storage, and up to 4 MW of solar generation. The nation’s largest public […]

  • Fusion Energy Project Sited at Former TVA Coal-Fired Power Plant

    A major U.S. utility is part of a fusion energy project that would be located at the site of one of the company’s retired coal-fired power plants. Type One Energy Group on Feb. 21 announced plans to build Infinity One, a stellarator fusion prototype machine, at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) closed Bull Run Fossil […]

  • NRC Completes Safety Review for Kairos Nuclear Test Reactor Within 18 Months

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has wrapped up a final safety evaluation for Kairos Power’s 35-MWth Hermes “non-power” demonstration reactor, which the firm has proposed to build at the East Tennessee Technology Park Heritage Center site in Oak Ridge, and plans to begin operating by 2026. The NRC’s review, which concluded “no safety aspects that would […]

  • TerrePower Accelerates Solar Panel Reuse Industry with Fully Operational Tennessee Facility

    SPARTA, TN, June 8, 2023 ––TerrePower, the innovative solar panel and EV battery lifecycle management division of BBB Industries, announced today that solar remanufacturing at its Sparta, Tennessee, facility is fully operational. The plant is dedicated to extending the life and improving the performance of solar panels through sustainable manufacturing for reuse, significantly reducing costs […]

  • Vanderbilt University, Silicon Ranch, NES, and TVA Flip the Switch on the Vanderbilt I Solar Farm

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 11, 2023) – Silicon Ranch Corporation, one of the nation’s largest independent power producers and a community-focused renewable energy company, joined Vanderbilt University, Nashville Electric Service (NES), and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) today to “flip the switch” on the Vanderbilt I Solar Farm, a 35-megawatt (MWAC) solar facility located in Bedford County, […]

  • TVA Will Build Gas-Fired Plant to Replace Coal-Fired Units

    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has approved retirement of the Cumberland coal-fired power plant, with officials on Jan. 10 saying the utility will replace one of the plant’s two units with a 1,450-MW natural gas-fired combined cycle facility at the site. The TVA has held public meetings over the past few years amid much discussion […]

  • TVA, Silicon Ranch, DENSO Move Forward on Four Tennessee Solar Sites

    A supplier of equipment to the e-mobility industry, including electric vehicles (EVs), joined with one of the largest U.S. independent power producers at a groundbreaking for the first of four solar power farms that will provide electricity for the manufacturer’s campus. DENSO, headquartered in Japan and with one of its U.S. manufacturing plants in Maryville, […]

  • TC Energy, 3 Rivers Energy Partners to develop renewable natural gas production facility at Jack Daniel Distillery

    CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 17, 2022 – TC Energy Corp. announced today a $29.3 million investment in a renewable natural gas (RNG) production facility near the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Owned by Lynchburg Renewable Fuels LLC, the facility will produce RNG with a carbon intensity score that is 50% lower than traditional natural gas, […]

  • Progress on Kairos Power’s Advanced Nuclear Reactor Demonstration Project

    Leaders in Tennessee and officials from Kairos Power announced last week that a privately funded project to establish a low-power demonstration reactor at the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge is moving forward. Alameda, California-based Kairos Power plans to invest $100 million and create 55 jobs to deploy its demonstration reactor, called Hermes. The […]

  • Jack and Solar—TVA Links Iconic Distillery With Renewable Energy

    The trend of supplying commercial and industrial locations with renewable energy—along with the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) continuing support of investments in power projects that support sustainability—is being recognized at one of the most-iconic distilleries in the U.S. The TVA on April 13 said it has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Nashville-based […]

  • C2 Energy Capital Completes Largest Solar Project Installed on a Landfill in Tennessee

    NEW YORK, May 28, 2019 — C2 Energy Capital, LLC, a rapidly growing investor in renewable energy and storage assets, announced today the completion of the largest solar project installed on a landfill in Tennessee. C2 Energy Capital provided financing and support services for the development and construction of the 2.7 MW solar power generation […]

  • Developer Sues TVA Over Cancellation of Bellefonte Deal

    The real estate developer who has tried for more than two years to buy the assets of the canceled Bellefonte nuclear power plant project in Alabama has sued the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) after TVA last week pulled out of the deal to sell the plant. Attorneys for Franklin Haney, whose Nuclear Development LLC (NDLLC) […]

  • Aries Gasification Plant Achieves 94% Operational Availability Milestone

    FRANKLIN and LEBANON, Tennessee – (October 9, 2018) – The Lebanon, Tennessee, Waste-to-Energy Gasification Plant reached a milestone last week as the plant maintained a 94% uptime rate over the last 100 consecutive days. More than 460,000 kWh of green electricity was generated during 2,259 operating hours. This success was accomplished through outstanding teamwork, hard […]

  • Renewed Vision Shines Light on Dormant Nuclear Site

    The framework of a cooling tower. Weathered concrete walls, with empty holes as windows. The remains of what might have been provide the backdrop for what is—a solar farm that’s boosting economic

  • GE Power Announces New Achievements by HA Gas Turbine and Services Upgrades

    GREENVILLE, S.C.—June 14, 2018—GE Power (NYSE: GE) today announced a growing list of accomplishments by its industry-leading HA gas turbine and its services portfolio—including the 26th HA in commercial operation and the new MXL2 with Additive Manufactured Performance upgrade for the GT13E2 turbine. These accomplishments reiterate GE Power’s unique position to help gas power producers efficiently […]

  • TVA Retires Aging Johnsonville Coal-fired Plant

    The Johnsonville Fossil Plant in Humphreys County, Tennessee, came online in 1951, and provided power for generations of Tennesseans as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) vast coal-fired fleet. But the end of 2017 also marked the end of an era for Johnsonville, as the TVA shut down the last operating unit at the […]

  • Judge Rules TVA Must Move Gallatin Coal Ash

    A federal judge on August 4 said the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) must dig up coal ash at one of its power plants and move it to a lined waste site. The order came in a suit filed by the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association (TSRA) and the Tennessee Clean Water Network (TCWN), who said coal […]

  • Abandoned TVA Nuclear Site Has New Life as Solar Farm

    A long-shuttered Tennessee nuclear power plant project has been reborn as a solar farm, with the energy produced there made available for use by local residents and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The Phipps Bend Nuclear Power Plant project in Surgoinsville was canceled by TVA in 1981, a victim of the negative sentiment toward nuclear […]