Future Grid Performance

A variety of factors are impacting and influencing the energy sector: rapid technology advancement, regulatory changes, electrification and more — all of which make the shift to decarbonize the energy system more complex.

TVA aspires to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while supporting broader national efforts to create a clean energy economy. This will require partnership, innovation and continued investment in new technologies. TVA is investing in a diverse suite of options for further carbon reduction — including up to 10GW of solar and increasing amounts of energy storage — while also exploring emerging technologies like advanced nuclear reactors and alternative fuels.

The addition of more renewable energy resources, such as wind, solar and energy storage, will present challenges to the way we plan and operate the grid. That’s because renewable energy is weather-dependent (variable energy resources) and uses inverters to produce energy and interact with the grid (inverter-based resources). These characteristics are different from traditional power plants, like coal, which have fuel delivered on-site and use rotating machines to produce energy.

Planning and Operating the Future Grid

As we move toward a more diverse resource mix, of both traditional rotating machines and inverter-based resources, the planning and operation of the electric grid will need to change. Future Grid Performance is tasked with just that — determining the processes, tools and grid-supporting technologies needed to operate a grid with inherently different characteristics

Future Grid Performance will work with industry experts to pinpoint TVA-specific needs, identify solutions, test ideas and implement successful concepts across TVA.