TVA Agrees To Purchase Power From Future NextEra Solar Plant To Be Built In Lauderdale County

FLORENCE–  TVA has established a power purchase agreement with NextEra, a Florida company for electricity from its planned 80-megawatt solar farm in Lauderdale County, Alabama. The installation would be significantly larger than any existing solar facility in the Tennessee Valley.

According to an informed source the plant would be located in Lauderdale County across the river from the Colbert Fossil Plant located in Cherokee. The project is still in the early stages of development but TVA has agreed to a 20-year power purchase agreement with NextEra.  It is hoped that construction would begin in 2016.

The agreement between TVA and NextEra is that the utility will pay $61 per megawatt-hour over the 20-year life of the agreement.

TVA SOLAR POWER GENERATING SITES

Solar power is one of the cleanest sources of power available, but at the moment it’s also one of the most expensive. By including solar power in Green Power Switch, TVA both enhances the environment and promotes the increased use of this promising technology.

TVA has established photovoltaic (PV) systems to generate solar power at the following sites (see map below for locations):

These sites offer high visibility and good opportunities for public education. By stimulating public interest in and demand for solar power, TVA intends to encourage further technological development that could help bring the cost down over time.