Thacker a Problem-Solver for TVA Renewable Energy

Tim Thacker, an electrical engineer in transmission planning at TVA, grew up in Harriman, Tennessee, a city nestled in the crook of the Emory River. With the outdoors as his playground, Thacker discovered his love of running and exploration.

“It all started because my mom wanted me to play outside instead of play video games,” Thacker said.

His grandfather worked as an electrical engineer at Harriman Utility Board. Thacker was able to intern with him in the field.

“We rode around in his truck, and he showed me how the power grid was structured. Back at his office he pulled out a map and showed me how power was being delivered from TVA to Harriman and then to us. That’s when I realized just how important this work was,” Thacker said.

Thacker was offered a running scholarship in college where he began his engineering journey. Two seemingly unrelated disciplines — running and engineering — eventually overlapped, instilling in him one consistent and resounding message: small improvements lead to big breakthroughs.

“After years of being consistent, I chipped away at my run times. Not every day is a homerun, but it’s the consistency that matters,” he said.

Thacker’s personal best for the mile is four minutes flat, but he always sees room for improvement. And he takes this mindset to work, too. He is responsible for evaluating reliability through simulations that apply hypothetical disturbances to potential future grid scenarios that include various combinations of resources and loads. Each simulation is a step toward efficiency.

“I build and improve tools that run these simulations,” Thacker explained. “The faster we can work, the faster we can get these new projects on the grid.”

As Thacker and his team improve their processes, they also have their sights set on how to get more renewable energy on the grid. Thacker, a problem-solver at heart, is learning how to support the inertial energy of the power grid to implement more solar to TVA’s portfolio. Inverter-based resources — like wind and solar — generate electricity that requires conversion to be compatible with the grid.

That’s where Thacker’s research comes in.

“Inverter-based resources (IBRs) like solar and batteries differ considerably from traditional turbines. Ensuring that incoming IBRs are designed to support the power grid during faults allows for confidence in our ability to keep the lights on while moving quickly towards greater amounts of renewable energy generation.

“I feel like we are really helping that move toward clean energy. With every new simulation I work on, I think of it as a potential new chunk of renewable energy on the grid,” he said.

But improvement is not without its growing pains.

Thacker understands the value of balance. What’s the secret ingredient to a sub-four-minute mile? Or any goal for that matter? Improvement doesn’t happen overnight, but consistency in the little things combine over time to create progress.

“How much you can grow relies on how consistently you allow yourself to recover. When I am exasperated, pushing further usually worsens things. So, I rest in order to feel ready for what’s next,” Thacker said.

“I try to be mindful of my mental health. Sometimes I need to take a break from crunching numbers and just get outside,” he said. “On the hard days training in college when fatigue set in or we were just feeling down, my friends and I would go to a place and run where our GPS wouldn’t work. We could just let go and remember why we liked running in the first place.”