TVA

When you study the history of hydropower, you expect to learn about people like British-American engineer James Francis, who developed the first modern hydro turbine in 1849. A testament to his genius is that the Francis turbine continues to be the most widely used water turbine in the world today. Or you assume American inventor […]

Nuclear energy is making a comeback—at home in America and worldwide. The 118th Congress presents new opportunities to make sure America leads the world on this crucial clean energy technology. The drumbeat

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 […]

Assessments are underway to pin down factors that prompted emergencies, tight grid conditions, and even load-shedding by major entities as Winter Storm Elliot bore down on the North American bulk power system (BPS) this past week.    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), and regional entities affiliated with […]

An Arctic blast felt by a large portion of North America is causing reliability turmoil within some segments in its bulk power system, forcing reliability coordinators to declare emergencies, issue conservation warnings, or shed load. TVA, Grappling With Demand Surge, Resorted to Load Shed Temperatures averaging the single digits across the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will pursue a first-of-its-kind pilot program at the Shawnee Fossil Plant in West Paducah, Kentucky, to determine if closed coal ash sites are suitable for utility-scale solar projects. The self-funded U.S. corporate agency’s board on Nov. 10 unanimously approved a $216 million pilot project to explore repurposing the 1,071-MW coal-fired power […]

Marking intent interest from the power sector in hydrogen’s decarbonization potential, six major utilities—Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Louisville Gas & Electric Co. (LG&E), Kentucky Utilities Co. (KU), Southern Co., and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)—have announced they will jointly pursue federal financial support for a Southeast Hydrogen Hub. The utilities, along with Battelle, an independent […]

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, […]

When a sinkhole was discovered near the base of the Boone Dam embankment, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s dam safety engineers went to work determining the best fix. The complexity of the work and quality

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will invest in a major program that will explore the construction of multiple advanced nuclear reactors—starting with a GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at its Clinch River site in Tennessee. TVA Board members during a meeting on Feb. 10 unanimously approved TVA’s “New Nuclear Program,” a broad new initiative […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will review Kairos Power’s construction permit application (CPA) for its 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 begin operating by 2026. The NRC formally accepted the CPA for review on Nov. 30, noting […]

Sometime around midnight on Dec. 22, 2008, a dike at the coal ash dewatering pond for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) 1,400-MW Kingston power plant in Roane County, Tennessee, failed. That led to what has been reported as the largest industrial spill in U.S. history. TVA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initially estimated […]

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 […]

In a notable, dedicated effort by a major U.S. utility to boost the development of an advanced reactor technology, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Kairos Power, developer of a novel fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature nuclear reactor, on May 6 said they will team to demonstrate Kairos’ Hermes test reactor at the East Tennessee Technology Park […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) expects to phase out its coal generation by 2035, but achieving net-zero carbon emissions without raising power prices or adversely affecting reliability will require substantial investments in energy storage and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). TVA also will need to extend the lifetime of its nuclear power, and adopt the […]

Engineer, attorney, author, and former head of some of the largest public power utilities in the U.S., S. David Freeman passed away on May 12 outside of Washington, D.C., following a heart attack at the age of 94. Freeman was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and received a degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is planning a technical conference this summer that would look at long-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the energy industry. The discussion would look at how the industry should approach investments and infrastructure development should the trend of lessening demand for electricity, and oil and gas, continue. Industry […]

U.S. power plant operators continue to change procedures at their facilities, including pushing back scheduled maintenance, due to lockdowns and quarantines associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The changes are impacting companies such as General Electric (GE) and Siemens, which are major service providers to power plants, at a time when these global companies already are […]

Yucca Mountain, the 1987 Congressionally appointed deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel (SNF), may be officially dead; transmission assets held by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and three Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) will be put up for sale; and hundreds of millions of dollars in unobligated balances for flagship programs like the Advanced Research […]

The past week saw interesting developments worldwide for nuclear new builds, small modular reactors (SMRs), and advanced nuclear fuel. Highlighted here: A third U.S. utility will use Framatome’s ATRIUM 11 fuel design; Barakah 1 in the United Arab Emirates is on the cusp of startup; South Africa’s Eskom said it wants to dispose of PBMR […]

The generator breaker for Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) Paradise Unit 3 was opened on Feb. 1, removing the coal-fired power plant from service for the final time after 50 years of operation. Notably, TVA retiree Jim Chappell performed the task. Chappell was the electrical control wing operator who originally placed Unit 3 in service. The […]

The past year has been filled with firsts for the nuclear power industry. Three power plants sporting first-of-a-kind reactors entered commercial operation, while the first U.S. AP1000 nuclear project reached key milestones on its path to completion. Furthermore, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted the first early site permit for a utility to construct […]

The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant completed an extended power uprate (EPU) that increased the total capacity of the facility’s three units by about 465 MW. The addition is an important part of the Tennessee

Increased power generation from renewable resources such as wind and solar also has created a growing market for energy storage. Generators want to harness that power and have it available when it’s needed, whether or not the wind is blowing or the sun is shining. Rob Allerman, senior director of Power Analytics for Drillinginfo, which […]

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 […]

A federal judge this week ruled the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) must continue to honor an agreement to sell the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant to a real estate developer who has said he would complete construction of the long-idled project. U.S. District Court Judge Liles C. Burke, in a 17-page opinion issued after a […]

Marc Yeston kicked off the Combustion Turbine Operations Technical Forum (CTOTF) spring conference on April 29 in St. Augustine, Florida, with a keynote presentation focused on safety, and how power plant managers and supervisors can improve safety programs. Yeston (Figure 1) has worked as a flight paramedic, a federal and state law enforcement officer, a […]

PG&E Corp. announced on April 3 the appointment of William “Bill” Johnson as the company’s new president and CEO. It also announced the appointment of 10 new directors to its board of directors. The board appointments will be effective as of the next in-person board meeting, which will be held as soon as practicable, the […]

North Carolina officials have ordered Duke Energy to excavate all its coal ash storage ponds in the state, saying the utility’s current plan for its coal ash sites does not sufficiently protect groundwater. The directive issued April 1 comes after regulators in other states, including Virginia, issued similar rulings regarding coal ash disposal in those […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is holding a board meeting today, during which the fate of the corporate agency’s Bull Run and Paradise Unit 3 coal power plants could be decided. Permanent closure of the facilities is strongly being considered. The stakes are high, according to Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R). In a Jan. 4 […]