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“The
Combustion Turbine Sites provide TVA with ‘peaking power.’
We push the start button and 20 minutes later we have power on
line. This year I’ve overseen the installation and start-up
of four new combustion turbines, the first in many years. I’ve
been at TVA for 24 years, and I’ve stayed because of the
diverse opportunities for many different experiences—in human
resources, labor relations and on the power side.”
—Donna Bruno, Site Manager, Gallatin Combustion Turbine Site
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Today’s
digital economy, which relies on delicate electronics and sensitive
microchips, demands unprecedented levels of power quality and reliability.
As the economy of the Tennessee Valley grows at about 4 percent annually—nearly
double the national average— the demand for TVA power is increasing
at about 3 percent annually, compared with earlier projections of 2.2
percent. TVA’s challenge is to meet the region’s growing demand
for high-quality electricity while ensuring the reliability of our product.
New Capacity
TVA has added more than 3,500 megawatts of capacity since 1994 and plans
to add additional capacity as needed over the next few years.
- New combustion
turbines were added at the Johnsonville and Gallatin sites to provide
680 megawatts of additional peaking capacity. Another 680 megawatts
of combustion turbine capacity will be constructed in time for the
summer of 2001 and up to 680 megawatts more by 2002.
- The generating
capacity of TVA’s hydro system has been increased by some 260
megawatts through the Hydro Modernization Program. When the program
is complete, it is expected to provide a total of more than 700 megawatts
of additional capacity.
- During fiscal
year 2001 the Red Hills Power Project, a 440-megawatt power-production
facility in Northeast Mississippi, will be placed in service and begin
selling its power to TVA. The plant—which is owned by Choctaw
Generation Limited Partnership and operated by Choctaw Generation
Inc., a subsidiary of Tractebel Power Inc.—uses clean-coal technology
to burn lignite coal mined near the plant. Mississippi Lignite Mining
Company, an affiliate of North American Coal Company, operates the
mine.
- Modifications
to Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Units 2 and 3 increased the generating
capacity of each unit by about 55 megawatts and increased their operating
cycles from 18 months to 24 months.
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Edith Walker,
Simon McGeough, and Jaime Smith of the Chief Financial Officer’s
organization were recruited as part of TVA’s Integrated Staffing
Plan.
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Reliability
- Extensive transmission
maintenance outage and construction work, as well as walk-downs and
infrared scans of substation equipment, was completed prior to the
high-peak demands of summer. The result: near-record reliability.
- Since 1995 TVA
has added 700 miles of transmission lines and 138 customer delivery
points.
- This year TVA
and the distributors of TVA power installed capacitor banks to improve
system voltage and hundreds of lightning arrestors to minimize service
interruptions.
- A new Asset
Availability Process allowed TVA to better identify and correct potential
problems before they could affect system readiness.
- Over the peak
summer season, TVA’s fossil system generated more than 35 million
megawatt-hours, the most generated over this period since 1993.
Human Resources
TVA’s
most valuable asset is its experienced and dedicated workforce. With
the average age of TVA employees at 47, nearly 4,000 of TVA’s 13,145
employees become eligible for retirement in the next five years. TVA
is aggressively recruiting and training the next generation of employees.
Through the Integrated Staffing Plan, TVA works to ensure that the workforce
is in place to meet the challenges of competition.
The American Society
for Training and Development and the American Productivity and Quality
Center both recognized TVA University for its innovative employee development
and training initiatives. TVAU was established in 1994 as the umbrella
for all education and training at TVA.
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