TVA began its fossil-plant construction program in the 1940s, and today it has 59 operating units at 11 coal-fired-plant sites in the Tennessee Valley.
In fiscal year 2009, TVA’s fossil plants produced 76.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, accounting for about 46 percent of TVA’s power generation.
In 2005, TVA’s system of 11 coal-fired plants achieved the best reliability ever recorded for a fiscal year. Six fossil units set continuous-run records, including Widows Creek Unit 3, which in April completed 819 days of continuous operation to set a national record for nuclear and coal-fired units
During 2005, the 59 units of the TVA fossil system had the lowest equivalent forced outage rate (EFOR) and the highest equivalent availability factor (EAF) in the company’s history. EFOR represents the percentage of time that a unit is unavailable due to unplanned maintenance or repair work. In 2005, the overall EFOR for TVA fossil plants was 4.6 percent. EAF represents the percentage of time in a year that a unit is available for power generation. In 2005, the overall EAF for TVA fossil plants was 87.4 percent
TVA is committed to taking actions at its facilities to protect the environment and the area’s natural resources. The agency demonstrated environmental leadership with the installation of scrubbers at Widows Creek Plant and electrostatic precipitators at many coal-fired plants when the technologies were still in the early stages of development.
TVA invested $172 million in clean-air equipment during fiscal year 2009, including scrubbers to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. TVA will have invested $5.5 billion to reduce emissions when its current clear air commitments are completed.
TVA currently has eight scrubbers in operation. Two more will be operational at Kingston Fossil Plant by 2010, reducing all emissions from the plant's 10 units, and two additional scrubbers will be installed at John Sevier Fossil Plant by 2012. To date TVA has reduced its sulfur dioxide emissions by 84 percent below peak 1977 levels.
TVA has 21 SCRs in operation. These and other measures have reduced summer nitrogen oxide emissions by 82 percent since 1995.
TVA has 87 combustion-turbine units located at four fossil-plant sites (Allen, Colbert, Gallatin, and Johnsonville) and several freestanding sites. The turbines burn natural gas or fuel oil and cost more to operate than TVA’s other power sources, but they are necessary for peak operating periods when the demand for power is high.
Tennessee Valley Authority
