Brownsville Combustion Turbine Plant

Efficient power production to help meet TVA’s intermediate power needs.

The Brownsville simple-cycle combustion turbines run on natural gas. The generating capacity of the plant is approximately 490 MW.

The units at Brownsville can reach full power in 30 minutes, depending on the status of the units.

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 Brownsville 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.

The Brownsville Plant, which occupies 137 acres in Brownsville, TN, helps TVA meet the rapidly growing peak demands for power and reduce the need to purchase higher-priced power from external sources during periods of high demand.