Eligibility and Contract Requirements

While TVA’s Generation Partners program is limited to projects of less than or equal to 50 kilowatts (kW), the Renewable Standard Offer is designed for developers of renewable energy projects greater than 50 kW and less than or equal to 20 megawatts (MW).

Projects must:

Be located in the Tennessee Valley region
Be greater than 50 kW and less than or equal to 20 megawatts
Be focused on solar, wind, biomass gasification, and mature renewable technologies such as biomass direct combustion, methane recovery, and co-firing of 50% or more biomass
Establish interconnection to a power distributor’s system
Have gone online no earlier than Oct. 1, 2010.

Only one project per renewable fuel type is allowed on a single property.

The Renewable Standard Offer is limited to a total of 100 megawatts for all projects, with no single fuel type contributing more than 50 percent of the total. Blocks of power capacity are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Applications in excess of a capacity block limit will be placed on a waiting list.

Renewable energy credits, which are earned by the renewable power generation and can be traded commercially, become the property of TVA.

Projects are subject to environmental review in accordance with requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, and environmental impact statements are prepared if necessary.

Project developers set up interconnection to the power grid with TVA or local power distributors, independent of the Renewable Standard Offer contract.

Power Source Standards

Renewable Standard Offer fuel sources are defined as follows:

Solar – Solar panels or thin film cells using fixed or single/dual axis tracking systems, which can be mounted on the ground or on top of a structure
Wind – Turbines in conventional sizes for utility-scale power generation
Direct combustion or gasification of biomass – Consumption of the biomass represents 95 percent or more of the total heat input to the project. The project must comply with laws regarding emissions.
Biomass co-firing – The biomass is in a gaseous or liquid state; is separately metered; and contracts are in place to verify that the biomass portion was converted to energy output, or the project uses a TVA-approved fuel-consumption heat content verification method. The project must comply with laws regarding emissions.
Bio-diesel – Achieves a nitrogen oxide emission rate of 1.6 pound per megawatt-hour or lower; uses bio-diesel manufactured in the region from sources present locally: and complies with laws regarding emissions.

Supply Guarantee

The developer of the project guarantees the supply of sufficient energy to TVA to meet or exceed TVA’s supply requirements for peak and off-peak months. Developers failing to meet either requirement pay damages to TVA.