tva cumberland combined cycletva cumberland combined cycle

The announcement followed a nearly-two-year environmental review process in which environmental groups, the U.S. Department of Interior and the Eniveronmental Protection Agency criticized TVA for not meaningfully exploring other options, such as renewables like solar, to replace the coal plant instead of choosing another fossil fuel. In both opinions, the Court held that the plaintiffs could proceed with more, Tennessee matched its all-time low unemployment rate in June, according to newly released data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. However, TVA does not provide key information on how it is comparing the costs. The utility should rebuke its intentions to double down on fossil fuels and instead pursue its aspiration to clean up its generation fleet and invest in renewable energy + energy efficiency. The Tennessee Valley Authority operates nine natural gas power stations in Tennessee. 64FYAD H &;X ( (713) 369-9000, Copyright Kinder Morgan 2020-2023. No registration is necessary to attend, see. The second unit will be retired by 2028. They consist of sensors and cameras that collect data on public services ranging from traffic congestion trends to the timing of the street lights. SACE's annual "Solar in the Southeast" report ranks our region's largest utilities. TVA has not published or shared any information about those assumptions and inputs, including how much demand for electricity TVA is forecasting, the assumed cost of building each type of resource, and the forecast for fuel prices especially fossil gas. Update: On January 6, 2023, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) made a final decision to retire the Cumberland Fossil Plant northwest of Nashville and replace it with a new 1,450-megawatt fossil gas plant and 32-mile pipeline. In response to several comments asking TVA to rerun the analysis to account for the passage of the IRA, TVA states in Appendix O that the IRA does not alter TVAs selection of the preferred alternative (Alternative A) nor does it change the least-cost planning analysis that led to TVAs adoption of the target supply mix in the 2019 IRP. In the final EIS, TVA claims a large portion of the cost difference between Alternatives A and C is that the solar and storage option requires investments in TVAs transmission infrastructure. Notably, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed comments on TVAs draft EIS and worked as a coordinating agency in developing this final EIS. However, when Cumberland effectively went dark in late December, on the coldest days of the year, TVA scrambled to find replacement electricity, demonstrating the utility's reliance on that plant's generation and the need to replace it with something just as powerful but more resilient. TVAs two-unit coal-fired Cumberland Fossil Plant will retire in two stages with one unit by the end of 2026 and the second unit by the end of 2028. Alternative C: 3,000 MW of solar and 1,700 MW of storage. As weve seen in jurisdictions that have much higher levels of installed solar that have used this project-by-project approach to integrating solar, it tends to cost a lot more and result in a less reliable grid in the long run than proactively investing in transmission infrastructure to meet the needs of the current energy transition. But the DEIS states Alternative C, the solar and storage option, has the same retirement dates as Alternative A. The pipeline company, Kinder Morgan, has already begun the FERC approval process under docket number PF22-2. Will it work? However, despite Board approval last November that TVA could take steps to ensure all of the alternatives were an option based on timing, it does not appear that TVA took any actions to get Alternatives B or C underway. El Proyecto Cumberland proporcionar aproximadamente 245,000 decatermias por da de transporte adicional de gas natural al transportista del Proyecto (Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)) para apoyar el retiro propuesto por TVA y el reemplazo de una planta de energa de carbn existente con una planta de energa de ciclo combinado de gas natural. It consists of two coal-fired units: the first unit will be retired and replaced with a 1,450-megawatt combined cycle natural gas plant by 2026. TVAs choice to replace coal generation with natural gas failed to address the implications of continued fossil fuel investment for its ratepayers and the cost and public health toll of increasingly disruptive climate-driven weather extremes, the EPA wrote. Likely it is at least in part because TVAs leadership consists of executives that come from private utilities and energy companies, and building new central power plants is what they have historically done, so its familiar. By starting these programs now, the utility could scale them until the earliest Cumberland coal plant retirement date in three years and still be able to shave some of the energy requirements from large-scale energy resources of any kind. 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Combined cycle plants burn gas that turns turbines, and the heat generated from that process is taken and put with water to generate steam, which turns a steam turbine, increasing the amount of power generation in one plant. The owner, Randy Johnston, wants to expand his business by adding towing. All rights reserved, Contractor Safety and Operator Qualification, Cumberland Project Open House Display Boards, Explanatory Note - Changes to Code of Business Conduct. Through the upcoming EIS process, TVA will identify the timeline to retire the plant's two coal units and if any replacement generation is needed. The last time we filed a similar FOIA, it took three months to get a response, and that response was woefully inadequate. In the draft EIS, TVA claimed the difference between the 20-year NPV system costs for Alternatives A and C was $2.311 billion in 2021 dollars. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is the primary utility in Tennessee which generates electricity and sells it to hundreds of local utilities and industrial customers. Just a few weeks after failing fossil fuel plants caused rolling blackouts across its footprint, the Tennessee Valley Authority is recklessly plowing ahead with plans to spend billions on another dirty gas power plant, said Amanda Garcia, director of the Southern Environmental Law Centers Tennessee Office. If we all pull together, we can get TVA to make a change that is good for everyones future. [5] Tennessee is home to the third largest pumped-storage hydroelectric facility in the US, and has the third highest net generation of hydroelectric power of states east of the Mississippi River, and eighth highest nationwide. TVA's push for gas over solar for Cumberland has been met with widespread criticism and questions not only from environmental groups but also from other federal agencies, such as the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency, when TVA first released its draft environmental impact statement. The Cumberland City plant is TVAs largest generator of electricity, powering 1.1 million homes. In addition, natural gas supports continued reduction of carbon emissions by enabling the integration of renewables, such as solar and battery storage, all while maintaining system reliability.. Removing an unreliable plant like Cumberland will rightly improve the coal availability metric that represents 5% of executives' annual bonuses. I was sad to learn that TVA wants to install a methane gas-fired plant in its place. TVA has already raised rates in 2022 due to surging natural gas prices. The next step is a 'huge question', Related:TVA chooses natural gas to replace the Cumberland coal plant. TVA intends to retire the one of the plant's units by 2026 and the second by the end of 2028 as part of its plan to phase out its remaining five coal-fired plants. And hes making this decision without any weigh-in from TVAs regulator: the TVA Board of Directors. The current plant generates enough electricity to power 1.1 million homes each year. TVA evaluated three options for this replacement capacity: TVA chose Alternative A, the new gas CC plant that requires a new gas pipeline, as its preferred option. There will be a minimum 30-day period before TVA CEO,Jeff Lyash makes a final decision on whether to accept the recommendation. SACE's annual "Solar in the Southeast" report ranks our region's largest utilities. While we understand that we need to be building as much renewable energy as possible to get off our dependence on fossil fuels, assuming too much solar and storage needs to be in place to retire this coal plant could unjustly make the cost and schedule of this alternative compare unfavorably to others. According to TVAs report to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), Cumberlands units each take more than 12 hours to start up, and likely much longer to go from zero to full capacity. [12] Six of these use simple combustion turbines. endstream endobj startxref 0:00 2:50 The Tennessee Valley Authority is looking at retiring the Kingston Fossil Plant. More:TVA's next water permit for Bull Run could result in more pollutants in the Clinch River. Issuing the industrys largest-ever 5,000 megawatt clean-energy request for proposals last June. However, TVA is clear in the EIS that instead of a comprehensive transmission plan to integrate solar and storage onto its grid, it is assuming a certain amount of transmission infrastructure is needed for each 100 MW of solar, and simply multiplying that by 30 to get to 3,000 MW of solar. You can contact her at anila.yoganathan@knoxnews.com, and follow her on Twitter @anilayoganathan. In his April 29 remarks on his first 100 days, President Joe Biden reiterated his commitment to moving the U.S.past fossil fuels to clean energy. Sierra Club and "Explore, enjoy and protect the planet" are registered trademarks of the Sierra Club. TVA follows the National Environmental Policy Act a longstanding federal process which ensures public participation and input and a robust review of all feasible options. This is an opportunity for TVA to show that it is listening to the people of the Tennessee Valley when they ask for clean technologies such as solar power and battery storage, said JoAnn McIntosh, a clean energy advocate with the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club based in Clarksville, Tennessee. Together were making a lasting impact across the Southeast. The power plant is in Cumberland City, Tennessee, 45 miles northwest of Nashville. But instead, TVA decided to double down on its debunked rhetoric and go from a respectable performer in the region to a laggard on these resources that improve resiliency and reduce customer bills. Once that date has passed, you can still use the link to find more information on the Cumberland Plant closure. A list of power generating stations operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority : Dams and hydroelectric facilities [ edit] Apalachia Dam Bear Creek Dam Beaver Creek Dam Beech Dam Blue Ridge Dam Boone Dam Cedar Dam Cedar Creek Dam Chatuge Dam Cherokee Dam Chickamauga Dam Clear Creek Dam Dogwood Dam Douglas Dam Fontana Dam Fort Loudoun Dam TVA has yet to publish a draft EIS on the Kingston replacement, but we expect it to be very similar to the process to replace Cumberland: draft EIS, final EIS, then decision. . List of power stations operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, "Tennessee - State Energy Profile Analysis", "Tennessee - State Energy Profile Overview", "U.S. utility TVA votes to close two coal power plants, in blow to Trump", "Tennessee Valley Authority plans to shut coal plants by 2035", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_power_stations_in_Tennessee&oldid=1148698929, Lists of buildings and structures in Tennessee, Lists of power stations in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, City of Covington Waste-To-Energy Gasification Plant, Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Solar Farm, Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority, This page was last edited on 7 April 2023, at 19:12. The 1,662-page report released by TVA on Friday echoes a preliminary finding released in August that concluded TVA should shut down one of its aging coal units at Cumberland by 2026 and the. Coal's share of power has declined from nearly 60% in 2008 to about 25% in 2018, while natural gas has increased significantly. The natural gas plant at the Cumberland site will be able to run on hydrogen fuel, or a mix of hydrogen and natural gas, if that technology becomes viable in the coming years, Lyash said. Just because these resources cannot replace 100% of the capacity and energy needs of Cumberland does not mean they are not worth investing in at all. This decision comes just over two weeks after TVA ordered rolling blackouts for millions of customers after coal and gas plants failed during the record-breaking winter storm Elliot. Side note: If TVA had listened to SACE and other advocates recommendations over the past several years to continue its effective energy efficiency and distributed solar programs, it might be able to replace 100% of the capacity and energy needs of one of these coal units with distributed resources. Required fields are marked *. Despite being a coordinating agency, it appears that several of the EPAs recommendations were not addressed in the final EIS. Alternative A: A large (1,450 MW) gas combined cycle (CC) power plant that would require the construction of a new gas pipeline to the Cumberland site, Alternative B: Two gas combustion turbine (CT) plants (1,530 MW) at different locations, and. In early December TVA published its final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) describing the environmental impacts of four options in regard to the Cumberland coal plant: The EIS claims Alternative A, the large gas plant at the same site as Cumberland, is the lowest-cost option. Why did TVA limit each alternative to one or two resources? Read more. [5] Tennessee is a net consumer of electricity, consuming more power than it generates and receiving power from TVA facilities in neighboring states.[4]. Again, we do not have enough information about the assumptions TVA used to properly evaluate. TVA evaluated whether to replace the plant with a combined cycle gas plant, solar and battery technology, a simple cycle gas plant or continuing to burn coal. The EPA found that TVA failed to properly evaluate alternatives like solar at the site, noting that the alternatives analysis continues to rely on inaccurate underlying economic information.. Because TVA is a federal entity, it is subject to the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA, therefore requiring it to file a DEIS, receive public comments, and publish a final EIS before moving forward with a project that has the potential to have significant environmental impacts. Tuesday's announcement came about two weeks after a severe winter storm in which some of TVAs coal and natural gas plants, including Cumberland, succumbed to cold weather, forcing the utility to implement rolling blackouts for the first time in its history. Im proud of the Cumberland team, said Travis Patterson, Cumberland plant manager. This decision is based on a thorough environmental and public review process that ensures we meet the growing energy needs of this region.. hb``` eaad8 ?>g?a?tq4B!lO5$2D.ta~4lSNsjV]3tsCI%3L9%`t}@1e-5-9omT5a 7( (;C2a* h]-;AYirD- ~Q (TGP), una empresa de Kinder Morgan, Inc., present una solicitud ante la Comisin Federal Reguladora de Energa (FERC) para el Proyecto Cumberland propuesto por TGP (legajo assignado No. The proposal would have vast benefits and should be strengthened and finalized soon.. The Associated Press. The seasonally adjusted rate for the month more, 17-Year-Old Shot And Killed In Alton Park On Monday Night In Drive-By, Law, Whitfield Seeking To Remain Alive In U.S. Three newer facilities use more efficient combined cycle generators. She has expertise in renewable energy, energy efficiency, coal retirements, energy market modeling, and, Copyright 2023 cleanenergy.org / Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. 826 0 obj <> endobj Well continue to do great work and Cumberland will remain an important part of the fleet until its slated retirement.. A la espera de la recepcin de todos los permisos y autorizaciones necesarios, la construccin est programada para comenzar en agosto de 2024, con una fecha de estar en servicio prevista para el 1 de septiembre de 2025. The project is currently in the announced stage. Combustion turbines work like jet engines to power our generators. TVAs DEIS rightly states that wind can provide dependable capacity in both summer and winter, but that the resource was not selected due to low wind speeds for in-valley wind and high transmission costs for out-of-valley wind. El lateral de la tubera y las instalaciones asociadas se ubicaran generalmente paralelas y adyacentes a las servidumbres de servicios pblicos existentes. For all we know, TVA continued to use unreasonably low fuel prices. Reach Josh Keefe at jkeefe@tennessean.com. January 12, 2023 Highlights Following a multi-year, transparent, and public process, TVA has made the decision to retire its Cumberland Fossil Plant and build a 1,450-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas facility by 2026. Did TVA look at the latest wind technologies, which include high hub height turbines that can be effective in lower wind resource areas? The plan includes opportunities to transfer to other TVA locations where employee skillsets are needed, to gain skillsets for transitioning to a new job in TVA, or to identify external opportunities if that best meets employee needs.. And as a federal corporation, with the Administration pushing to decarbonize the electricity sector by 2035, it is an uphill battle for TVA to lock in fossil fuels that will be expected to operate well past 2035. The utility has said it plans on achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. I have already reached out to TVA asking for these assumptions, and have been told I must go through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. TVA is set to retire the Bull Run coal-fired plant by the end of 2023. The Sierra Club is Americas largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. Energy security begins with diversification of energy sources, and TVA has one of the nations most diverse, cleanest energy systems, including nuclear, solar, hydro, gas and advanced technologies. The EPA found that TVA failed to properly evaluate alternatives like solar at the site, noting that the alternatives analysis continues to rely on inaccurate underlying economic information., Cold weather:TVA takes 'full responsibility' for Christmas Eve power outages, rolling blackouts. For more information, read the Record of Decision and other related documentsfound at tva.com/nepa. Maggie Shober | May 2, 2022 | Coal, Fossil Gas, Tennessee, Utilities In fact, TVA has said it wont start its next IRP until late 2023, leaving it an unusually short timeframe to finish an IRP in time to get Board approval in 2024. El Proyecto Cumberland incluye la construccin de una tubera lateral de aproximadamente 32 millas y 30 pulgadas que se origina en la Lnea 100 existente de TGP en el condado de Dickson, Tennessee y termina en la planta de energa propuesta en el condado de Stewart, Tennessee. Both coal units would be retired on a staggered timetable and replaced on the Cumberland plant site by a combined cycle gas plant. This would mean habitat loss for our plants and animals, which is the number one threat to biodiversity. Any individual, entity, or organization can submit a comment on TVAs DEIS between April 29 and June 13, 2022, online or via email(to [emailprotected]). Option A: Retirement of the Cumberland coal plant and construction and operation of a Combined Cycle Combustion Turbine (CC) Gas Plant on the site of the current Cumberland . We should be protecting these valuable resources. Media Distancia trains are a bit slower than the AVE, but they stop at Sevilla - San Bernardo, which is just a stone throw away from the cathedral and Plaza de Espaa in Seville. Following a multi-year, transparent and public process, the Tennessee Valley Authority has made the decision to retire its Cumberland Fossil Plant and build a 1,450-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas facility by 2026. Shutting down polluting smokestacks would mean a better environment and more jobs, The view from Angie Mummaws family farm is spectacular, but marred by pollution from the Cumberland City smokestacks. The switch to natural gas will require the construction of a new 32-mile natural gas pipeline across Dickson and Houston counties, crossing over to the plant in Stewart County. TVAs draft EIS states that, if approved, the pipeline will begin construction in August of 2024 and be operational by September 2025. [3] Tennessee is home to the two newest nuclear reactors in the US at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, unit 2 being the first to begin operation in the 21st century. PO Box 1842Knoxville, TN 37901865.637.6055, Maggie Shober works to speed the clean energy transformation in the Southeast through analysis and advocacy. 863 0 obj <>stream TVA is moving forward with its plan despite the federal Environmental Protection Agency declaring last week that it had substantial concerns about TVAs final Environmental Impact Statement related to the Cumberland site. Replacing retired generation with a natural gas plant is the best overall solution because its the only mature technology available today that can provide firm, dispatchable power by 2026 when the first Cumberland unit retires dispatchable meaning TVA can turn it off and on as the system requires the power, Mr. Lyash said. Tva has always been a part of my heritage and the idea of a methane gas pipe line is not something that I want my children or grandchildren to have in their environment and the people that have worked there for years do not deserve the loss of jobs and income for their families to suffer from please either leave it alone or go solar to protect or environment and future of our families and eco system, Your email address will not be published. The president has called on the country to reach 100 percent carbon-free energy generation by 2035. What TVA is doing about emissions at Cumberland. That effort will include retiring its final five coal plants by 2035. to solicit proposals for the new combined-cycle gas plant. Currently, Kingston Fossil Plant is undergoing an environmental review to determine the potential impacts of retirement and replacement. Houston, TX 77002 Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. El 22 de julio de 2022, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C. Together were making a lasting impact across the Southeast. TVA's preferred alternative is a combined cycle gas plant that will generate about 1,450 megawatts. The Cumberland Fossil Plant is the largest generating asset in the TVA coal fleet and is located in Stewart County, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Now it's up to us: help us make positive environmental change, Be a champion for the environment. The Cumberland City plant is TVAs largest generator of electricity, powering 1.1 million homes. In addition, adding a new gas CC to TVA's fleet will also serve to increase the gas combined cycle metric that represents 10% of executives' annual bonuses. Este proyecto es sujeto a la finalizacin de las revisiones ambientales de TVA y la aprobacin ejecutiva final de su proyecto de retiro y reemplazo. TVA's decision is open to public comment through June 13. This is devastating to think of them destroying our ecosystem for their own profit. The DEIS shows that TVA chose the highest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting alternative, yet it is touting this choice as beneficial on climate change because TVA compared it to the retiring coal plant instead of the other alternatives. In addition, the economy of Cumberland City would suffer greatly with the closure of the steam plant. The DEIS also acknowledges that the gas CC plant would only replace one of Cumberlands retiring units, and leaves open the possibility for more gas, or a combination of gas, solar, and storage, to replace the second Cumberland unit. Specifically, the TVA failed to account for expected declines in the cost of clean energy and increases in the cost of natural gas, EPA said. Replacing retired generation with a natural gas plant is the best overall solution because its the only mature technology available today that can provide firm, dispatchable power by 2026 when the first Cumberland unit retires dispatchable meaning TVA can turn it off and on as the system requires the power, Lyash said. I thought shutting them down would mean a better environment; cleaner air to breathe and safer water to drink. He also said the environmental review process was limited to the Cumberland site, and failed to address changes TVA was making across its system. In the fourth blog post of the series, we focus on the individual forecasts for each of the states in, On July 14, 2023, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals released a decision in our appeal of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) approval of the Southeast Energy Exchange Market, or, The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed what could be the first-ever limits on carbon pollution from most power plants. This has been a long time coming and I have looked forward to gorgeous sunsets over the river and hills without the towering presence of the polluting smokestacks. }V`pqq3hl0:d@Aq'. It tainted the beautiful sunsets. Voters are increasingly listing climate change as an urgent issue. Needless to say, it is highly unlikely we will get anything useful from TVA on these assumptions and results before its CEO makes the final decision in early January. Ricky Junquera, ricky.junquera@sierraclub.org. Re`dg>Xp(f^L{ In this DEIS, TVA proposes to retire one unit of the two units at the large coal plant in middle Tennessee between 2026 and 2030, and the other unit between 2028 and 2033. Federal statute governs how often TVA has to do an IRP, at least every five years, and what it must consider: energy efficiency and demand-side options alongside supply-side resources like renewable and fossil energy resources. They want to burn another fossil fuel, one that would require the construction of a new plant and a 32-mile pipeline, cutting through the picturesque countryside of Stewart, Houston, and Dickson counties. Become a Wilderness Guardian. [3] In 2018, about 57% of the power consumed in Tennessee was generated with emissions free sources. Many people across the country are winning fights against pipelines. TVAs DEIS lists other resources considered but eliminated, such as hydro pumped storage, small modular reactors (nuclear), both in- and out-of-valley wind, energy efficiency, and demand response. It powers approximately 1.1 million homes. The project is owned by Tennessee Valley Authority. 2023 www.knoxnews.com. [4] In November 2018 natural gas produced more power than coal for the first time in Tennessee.