green building
10.28.09 9:05 AM
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TVA is looking to expand its power portfolio and has entered into 20 year agreements with several Great Plains companies for the supply of wind power. The contracts call for 450,000 megawatts of power, and should be enough to power 140,000 homes.
Wind turbines use the momentum of moving air to generate electricity. The momentum turns the turbine’s large blades that are attached to the shaft of an electric generator. At its Buffalo Mountain site in East Tennessee, the TVA says that “[t]he larger turbines rotate at about 15 revolutions per minute. Transformers in the nacelles step up the power to 35 kilovolts (kV), and it’s stepped up again to 161 kV at the substation located on the mountain. The substation connects to an existing TVA transmission line.”
Wind energy is beneficial because it produces no pollution, and causes minimal environmental impact.
Currently, TVA is experimenting with several different forms of alternative energy including its own wind farm at Buffalo Mountain, hydroelectric dams, nuclear plants, landfill gas recycling facilities, and solar panels. In addition, TVA will take part in Tennessee’s $31,000,000 solar farm to be in Haywood County.
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