Wind power in Tennessee

Wind power in Tennessee has most potential in East Tennessee along the North Carolina border.^[1] The state has not passed renewable portfolio standard legislation and there is just one utility-scale wind farm with 15 operating turbines^[2] and previously 3 test turbines.^[3] The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), based in Knoxville, imports wind-generated electricity into its service area which includes Tennessee. US Senator Lamar Alexander from Tennessee is an outspoken critic of wind power.^[4]

2008 US Department of Energy wind power potential map of Tennessee

According to engineers at TVA none of the windmills is now generating power because of maintenance and mechanical issues.

Buffalo Mountain

 

TVA wind turbines on Buffalo Mountain

Located north of Oak Ridge and Oliver Springs, and east of Frozen Head State Park about thirty miles northwest of Knoxville, Buffalo Mountain Wind Farm was built in 2000 by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).^{[citation needed]}

Before expanding the wind plant at Buffalo Mountain, TVA proposed fourteen wind turbines on a ridge north of Beech Mountain, within 11 miles of the Appalachian Trail.^[5]

Until 2009 the TVA operated three wind turbines with a combined generation capacity of 2 MW "as a test bed". TVA stopped operating the three turbines in 2009 due to maintenance issues. In 2021 TVA announced no access would be allowed in the area while it is removing the three original test wind turbines that  "reached their end of life."^[3] It purchases the output of 15 wind turbines built in 2004 and owned by Invenergy that have a combined capacity of 27 MW.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

TVA import

The Tennessee Valley Authority service area covers most of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small sections of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. As of 2013, the agency had power purchased agreements with wind farms outside its service area:

• 2012 - Enel Green Power, LLC - 201MW - Caney River Wind Farm, Elk County, Kansas.
• 2012- Invenergy - 400MW - Bishop Hill Wind Energy Center, Henry County, Illinois 200 megawatts generated by General Electric 1.5-megawatt SLE turbines. This facility began delivery in July 2012.
• 2012- Invenergy - 200MW - California Ridge Wind Energy Center in Champaign County, Illinois
• 2012- NextEra Energy Resources - 150MW - White Oak Energy Center, McLean County, Illinois
• 2012- NextEra Energy Resources- 165MW - Cimarron Wind farm, Gray County, Kansas

A 2010 agreement with Iberdrola Renewables provides a potential 300MW future supply from Streator-Cayuga Ridge Wind Farm, Livingston County, Illinois ^[11]

Clean Line Energy transmission

Clean Line Energy LLC is proposing 700-mile power transmission line to bring wind energy from Oklahoma and to the Tennessee Valley. The TVA would import 1,750 megawatts, about half of the power that could be transmitted. Developers began in 2007 to seek regulatory approval for the $2 billion project, but the approvals needed to start construction aren't expected to be in place until at least 2020.^{[12][13][14][15][16]} The project faces opposition, particularly in Arkansas.^[17]

Statistics

Tennessee Wind Generation Capacity by Year Megawatts of Wind Capacity ^[18]

See also

•  Wind power portal
•  Renewable energy portal
•  Energy portal
•  United States portal

• Solar power in Tennessee
• Wind power in the United States
• Renewable energy in the United States

References

1. American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) (September 2012). (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-20. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
2. "State Renewable Portfolio Standards and Goals". National Association of State Legislatures. February 19, 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
3. "TVA: Buffalo Mountain wind farm access closed in November due to removal of turbines". wbir.com. November 2, 2021. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
4. Paul C. Barton, Gannett Washington Bureau (26 March 2013). "Wind blowing against Alexander's energy arguments". USA TODAY.
5. Leutze, Jay Erskine (2012-06-05). Stand Up That Mountain: The Battle to Save One Small Community in the Wilderness Along the Appalachian Trail. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-7900-7.
6. "Johnson City explores feasibility of Buffalo Mountain wind farm". Kingsport Times-News.
7. "Buffalo Mountain Wind Farm TN USA - GEO". globalenergyobservatory.org.
8. Jim Matheny, WBIR (28 October 2013). "Wind fuels steady rotation of power at TVA's Buffalo Mtn". WBIR.
9. "CleanEnergy Footprints". cleanenergy.org.
10. "NRDC: Renewable Energy in Tennessee". nrdc.org.
11. "TVA: Energy Purchases from Wind Farms". tva.com.
12. Tony Russell (2 February 2015). "New Transmission Lines To Carry Oklahoma Wind Energy To Tennessee - NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com -". newson6.com.
13. "TVA may import wind power from Texas, Oklahoma". timesfreepress.com. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
14. "TVA may import wind power from Texas, Oklahoma". timesfreepress.com.
15. "Tennessee grants approval for 3.5GW wind transmission". windpowermonthly.com.
16. "Tennessee Regulatory Authority approves utility status for Plains and Eastern Clean Line - Memphis Business Journal". Memphis Business Journal. 13 January 2015.
17. "Bill Targets Clean Line, Contrasting With Trump's Zeal for Infrastructure". 7 March 2017. from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
18. WINDExchange: U.S. Installed and Potential Wind Power Capacity and Generation

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wind power in Tennessee.

• ASSESSMENT OF BAT MORTALITY AND ACTIVITY AT BUFFALO MOUNTAIN WINDFARM, EASTERN TENNESSEE
• WINDExchange Department of Energy's Wind Program Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Resources in Tennessee
• Small Wind Electric Systems Department of Energy
• Renewable energy in Tennessee 2013