Marshall Combustion Turbine Plant

Marshall Combustion Turbine Plant is located near Calvert City, Kentucky. TVA also has combustion turbines in Haywood and Weakley Counties, Tennessee, in Kemper County, Mississippi, and at four of its coal-fired power plants.

Efficient power production to help meet peak demand

Combustion turbines can run on natural gas or low-sulfur fuel oil and are designed to start quickly to meet the demand for electricity during peak operating periods. The units at Marshall can reach full power in just 12 minutes. The plant was already interconnected to the TVA transmission system when it was acquired by TVA.

Combustion turbines operate on the same general principle as a jet engine. Air enters at the front of the unit and is compressed, mixed with natural gas or oil, and ignited. The hot gas then expands through turbine blades to turn the generator and produce electricity.

State-of-the-art emission controls and noise management make the Marshall units more environmentally friendly than older types. When the units run on natural gas, nitrous-oxide emissions are less than 10 percent of what they were 30 years ago. When they run on oil, emissions are less than 20 percent of former levels.

The Marshall CT plant, which occupies 100 acres in the midst of Kentucky farm country, is expected to help TVA meet the rapidly growing peak demands for power.