Out of the ashes: TVA’s Project Phoenix rises
Former coal ash site is proving ground for solar innovation and grid resilience
“We’re building tomorrow out of yesterday.”
» TVA Vice President Scott Turnbow
IN THE SHADOW of the Shawnee Fossil Plant in far western Kentucky’s McCracken County, a quiet revolution is taking shape—one that turns yesterday’s waste into tomorrow’s watts. Project Phoenix, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s new solar initiative, is transforming a capped coal ash site into a 100-megawatt solar field, setting a precedent for how legacy energy infrastructure can be reborn.
The name isn’t just poetic. With 240,000 solar panels slated to go online by 2028, Project Phoenix is the first large-scale solar installation on a closed coal ash site anywhere in the world. And it’s not just symbolic—it’s strategic. By using only 270 acres to generate 100 megawatts, the project is nearly four times more land-efficient than typical industrial solar farms.
“This is exactly what we’re doing,” says TVA Vice President Scott Turnbow. “We’re building tomorrow out of yesterday.”
With Project Phoenix, 240,000 solar panels are planned to go online by 2028. Photo: TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY
The innovation doesn’t stop at solar. The Shawnee site also recently added selective catalytic reduction, or SCR, modules to four of its nine coal-fired units, enabling them to run at full capacity during peak summer demand while staying within environmental limits. Without the SCRs, TVA would have to throttle back output— an unacceptable option in a region that’s seen record-breaking energy use in 2024 and 2025.
TVA’s broader buildout is equally ambitious. Across the Valley, more than 3,400 megawatts of natural gas generation are under construction, including major projects at the Cumberland and Kingston plants in Tennessee and a new facility in Mississippi. Meanwhile, TVA is leading the nation in advanced nuclear development, becoming the first utility to submit a construction permit for the GE Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor.
TVA is blending legacy assets and new technologies to empower a resilient, flexible grid. Photo: TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY
It’s all happening for a reason: the Valley’s population is growing faster than the national average, especially among working-age residents and families. To meet that demand, TVA is blending legacy assets, new technologies and American-made infrastructure into a resilient, flexible grid.
Project Phoenix is more than a solar field—it’s a blueprint. TVA is already evaluating other coal ash sites for similar transformations, in the hope that even the most unlikely landscapes can power the future.
As Turnbow put it, echoing TVA’s early visionaries: “This is a story about dreamers with shovels—creating tomorrow out of yesterday.”
