DOE, TVA to collaborate on hydropower technology development
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced this week a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU) focused on the collaborative development of hydropower technology.
Together, the pair will evaluate and demonstrate various approaches to operating hydropower plants of the future. The DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) and its partners in various national labs will work to measure the value of hydropower and pumped storage facilities on the grid and engage advanced modeling to predict how climate change could impact TVA’s hydropower systems, specifically.
“Today’s hydropower fleet has a crucial role to play in achieving the United States’ clean energy goals, but strategies for operating those plants will have to evolve as more renewable energy resources come onto the grid,” WPTO Director Jennifer Garson. “WPTO and TVA have been working together to advance hydropower technologies over the last several years, and this MOU is an important step in formalizing and building on those activities.”
For WPTO, a big focus will also be understanding how fleetwide data can guide plant-level decisions, like maintenance cycles. The office will work with TVA to develop an action plan for joint efforts over the next six months.
“TVA is a pioneer in clean hydropower technology—completing our first energy-producing dam in Norris, Tennessee, in 1936, and investing today in our hydroelectric fleet to build the energy system of the future that will help continue to reduce carbon emissions,” Dr. Joe Hoagland, vice president of TVA Innovation & Research, said. “We appreciate this partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy as we look to advance hydropower technologies that will not only provide affordable, reliable, resilient, and sustainable energy but also bring jobs and investment to the seven-state region we serve.”
TVA’s part in this will focus on investigations and potential demonstrations of techniques and technologies that would allow its 29-dam strong hydropower system to adapt to the changing needs of the Tennessee Valley and the industry at large. Hydropower comprises 11 percent of TVA’s overall generation portfolio, so any changes could have major impacts.
