TVA began its fossil-plant construction program in the 1940s, and today it has 59 operating units at 11 fossil-plant sites in the Tennessee Valley.
In fiscal year 2005, TVA’s fossil plants produced 98.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, accounting for more than 60 percent of TVA’s power generation.
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 $202 million in clean-air equipment during fiscal year 2005, including scrubbers to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. TVA will have invested $5.7 billion to reduce emissions when its current clear air commitments are completed.
TVA currently has six scrubbers in operation to remove sulfur dioxide emissions. Two more are under construction, one at Paradise Fossil Plant in Kentucky, which will operate later this year, and one at Bull Run Fossil Plant in Tennessee, expected to be operational in 2009. When these two are finished, more than 40 percent of TVA’s coal-fired capacity will be equipped with scrubbers, and sulfur dioxide emissions will be reduced by 80 to 85 percent below peak 1977 levels.
With this year’s addition of two new selective catalytic reduction systems, TVA now has 20 in operation. These and other measures have reduced summer nitrogen oxide emissions by 80 percent since 1995.
TVA has 72 combustion-turbine units located at four fossil-plant sites (Allen, Colbert, Gallatin, and Johnsonville) and two freestanding combustion-turbine sites (Lagoon Creek and Kemper). 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
