RFP Follow-Up: TVA's Senior Originator talks keys to successful bids by solar, storage developers

Following announcements from CEO Jeff Lyash that the company is committed to contracting for 14 GW of solar, TVA has provided some updates into its ongoing selection process for its 2020 RFP and its plans for 2021.

The public utility is currently in the midst of selecting partners for its 2020 RFP that was issued back in March. TVA’s Senior Originator Megan Holman said yesterday that the best projects have been shortlisted and that TVA’s contracting partners are in the process of selecting from that pool. The company plans to start making announcements next month.

Jamie Bach, TVA’s Manger of Renewable Energy Solutions, says that he is encouraged by the great response that this year’s RFP received and highlighted the company’s utility scale solar program Green Invest as a strong economic driver for the region.

“Demand for renewables remains strong in the Valley despite the challenges and uncertainty that the COVID pandemic has presented,” Bach said. “There’s a lot of recent momentum with the Green Invest program. We’ve worked with some great partners to create 1,200 MW or so in less than two years. We’ve brought in companies like Facebook and Google and worked with KUB and GM, all of those connected with projects sourced through our competitive RFPs. Having a proven utility scale solar offering is becoming an increasingly important component for the Valley’s economic development.”

Holman, who overseas TVA’s RFP process directly said that the company received 6.8 GW of renewable bids through this year’s RFP. This breaks down to 5.7 GW of renewables, mostly solar, and another 1.1 GW of standalone storage and marks a more than 2 GW increase over last year’s slate of projects.

The company does not have a concrete number of projects or MW target that will be greenlit through this process, but TVA’s VP of Origination and Renewables Chris Hansen noted that the company was targeting 1,000 MW. Holman said that number would ultimately be decided by project siting and transmission and interconnection constraints. For those bidders that are not selected, Holman also said that TVA would be reaching out to discuss why that was the case.

“If you were a developer that submitted to our RFP this year and didn’t advance, our team will be reaching out for discussions probably in the beginning of next year once this RFP is concluded so we can give you some feedback and talk through where your projects are and what we see for the future,” Holman said.

But what is the future? As the company eyes 14 GW of solar, a far cry from where they are currently at around 1.2 GW, Hansen says the company will be utilizing a mix of options led by its RFP process but also including local generation from affiliated LPCs through the utility’s power flexibility option, and also through internal solar development.

“Right now, when we’re looking at adding thousands of MW [of solar], we will do everything we can whether that’s through our own development, our RFPs, and power flexibility through our LPCs,” Hansen said. “We don’t have a formula for those right now; it’s just all of the above.”

In the meantime, Holman says the company will be releasing its next RFP in the Spring and anticipates issuing one each year for the next four years. She also provided some insight into what makes a good partner for TVA’s purposes.

“When a developer has really good visibility into interconnection timing and costs, that provides us with some security that we’re looking for,” Holman said. “We’ve seen some projects that are a bit earlier in the process, and those come with more unknowns and makes it a little more of a challenge. A project submitted with minimal redlines to our standard PPA is a major differentiator. And it goes without saying, but PPA price is always a key part of the evaluation.”