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Published Aug 17 2004 by Energy Central, Archived Aug 17 2004

Tennessee Valley Authority loses millions on Mississippi power

by staff reporter

The Tennessee Valley Authority recovered less than half of its $36 million investment in a failed power storage process in Mississippi, according to a financial report released Tuesday. In its latest quarterly report, TVA said a venture organized by the German conglomerate RWE paid TVA $15 million on April 30 for losses from the canceled project.

TVA had invested $36 million in the venture, known as Regenesys, before the project was canceled because RWE didn't want to proceed with the joint venture through its Innogy Ventures Ltd subsidiary. Regenesys was designed to act like a giant battery to store energy and improve the reliability of TVA's electric service in Columbus, Miss

Editorial Notes

DL writes:
Moving to highly intermittent sources of energy like wind or solar PV entails either a proportionately larger (80% to 20%, some say) "base" source for electrical power (like gas, coal, nuclear or steady hydroelectric); if there was a way to store large amounts of intermittent power and release in a controlled fashion to the grid that would enable a larger % contribution from wind and solar. So, there are a lot of schemes out there to capitalize on this future need. [This is] one that didn't make it; what could be simpler than a giant battery?

Original article available here