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April 2 (Reuters) – The general manager of the Tennessee Valley Authority said Tuesday that the US electricity producer is expected to obtain more than 60% of its energy from non-carbon sources by 2020, against more by 50% in 2018..
Bill Johnson, who turned 65 in January, announced his retirement as CEO of TVA in November. His last day is Friday.
He is expected to be named as the new CEO of Californian energy company PG & E Corp. The latter filed for bankruptcy protection in January, while her responsibilities for wildfires could be huge, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Johnson would not comment on the rumors of PG & E
Since Johnson became CEO of TVA in 2013, the company has spent about $ 15 billion to modernize its generating fleet, reduce carbon emissions by removing coal-fired power plants and reduce its debt by $ 3.5 billion. while keeping electricity prices essentially stable.
"Our production fleet is now very diverse and clean," said Johnson, noting that the changes stemmed from the mandate of the VAT Act to "produce energy at the lowest possible rate".
TVA's energy mix now includes about 40% nuclear, 20% natural gas, just over 20% coal, 11-13% hydropower, and the rest in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
This compares to 60% coal, little gas, 30% nuclear and the remainder hydroelectric in 2005.
TVA has closed several coal-fired power plants in recent years, despite efforts by US President Donald Trump to support the coal industry.
In February, TVA 's board of directors voted to close two more coal plants – Bull Run in Tennessee by 2020 and Paradise in Kentucky by 2023 – for reasons despite strong opposition from the Trump government.
According to Johnson, at the closure of these plants, coal will represent only about 17% of the TVA energy mix.
"I expect the park to be quite similar over the next decade," Johnson said, pointing out that "it was" possible to add a significant amount of solar energy. if customers demand it ".
TVA has signed agreements for a solar capacity of approximately 700 megawatts (MW) for specific customers, including Google and Facebook Inc. of Alphabet Inc. On Monday, the company launched a call for proposals to add 200 MW of 'solar energy.
"I would not be surprised to see solar energy entering the thousands of megawatts," Johnson said, pointing out that more solar energy could require more gas-fired capacity for balance the source of renewable energy when the sun stops shining.
(Scott DiSavino report edited by James Dalgleish)
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