North Alabama Utility-Scale Solar Facility Environmental Impact Statement

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has decided to adopt the preferred alternative identified in its final environmental impact statement (Final EIS) for the North Alabama Utility-Scale Solar Facility. The Final EIS was made available to the public on May 9, 2022. A Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Final EIS was published in the Federal Register on May 13, 2022. TVA's preferred alternative, analyzed in the Final EIS as the Proposed Action Alternative, consists of TVA constructing an approximately 200-megawatt (MW) alternating current (AC) solar photovoltaic (PV) facility, including an electrical substation and possibly a battery energy storage system (BESS), on an approximately 1,459-acre portion of a 2,896-acre Project Site currently owned by TVA, two miles east of Courtland in Lawrence County, Alabama. In addition, up to 150 acres on the Project Site would be maintained as species-rich native plant meadow. The Project would connect to the existing adjacent Reservation-Mountain Home 161-kilovolt (kV) transmission line (TL), which crosses the southern portion of the Project Site. The interconnection of the solar PV facility would require network upgrades on this TL in Lawrence County. This alternative would achieve the purpose and need of the Project to meet the demand for increased renewable energy generation and partially fulfill the renewable energy goals established in TVA's 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).