The Tennessee Valley Authority earned national recognition for its wind power leadership in 2012, adding 1,100 megawatts of wind energy capacity from seven wind power sites.TVA activated 535 megawatts of wind power in January from four wind farms in Kansas, Illinois and Iowa and 200 megawatts in July from another facility in Illinois.
In November and December, 165 megawatts from the Cimarron wind farm in Gray County, Kan., and, 200 megawatts from the California Ridge Wind Energy Center in Champaign County, Ill. were integrated into the TVA power grid.TVA now has 10 contracts with nine wind farms delivering more than 1,500 megawatts of energy.
“We're confident that wind power will continue to demonstrate its value, effectiveness and potential in the years to come,” said Patty West, director of TVA Renewable Energy Programs.
TVA was named "Utility of the Year" in November by the American Wind Energy Association. AWEA presents the award annually to the U.S. electric utility that has done the most to advance wind power’s growth through its actions.
“We honor TVA with this award to recognize its accomplishments for wind power in general and how it has achieved these results in a way that benefits other utilities and the entire wind energy industry,” said Denise Bode, CEO of AWEA.
Wind expansion also helped TVA in July be named one of the “Most Innovative Utilities in Renewable Integration” byFierce Energy, a daily energy market newsletter distributed to more than 10,000 energy industry executives around the world. The distinction recognizes TVA’s national leadership to address challenges such as intermittency and congestion and boost regional markets for wind power.
Wind energy contracts are an important part of TVA’s renewable energy portfolio which totals more than 6,300 megawatts of operating or committed energy capacity from hydro, wind, solar, and biomass. TVA’s site at Buffalo Mountain located near Knoxville became the first commercial wind farm in the Southeast in 2000 and provides 27 megawatts of capacity.