By MIKE KRAFCIK
6 News Reporter
ROGERSVILLE (WATE) - TVA is showing off its newest power plant.
It's called a combined-cycle gas plant that uses natural gas to make electricity. The plant makes enough to power around 500,000 homes.
The John Sevier Combined Cycle Gas Plant was dedicated on Thursday.
The new plant is located next to the John Sevier Fossil Plant on the Holston River in Rogersville. Thursday's dedication gave officials a first chance to see TVA's new natural gas powered plant.
After two years of construction the plant began operation in April 2012, ahead of schedule and about $30 million under budget.
"I'm just amazed. I was here when it was a level piece of land. In two years, they built this plant. It's up, it's operational, it's producing power," said U.S. Representative Phil Roe.
The opening of the gas cycle plant is an important step for TVA to provide clean and reliable energy throughout East Tennessee.
TVA said the gas plant will produce a cleaner and more cost-effective source of power for the region.
"This is a critical facility for us and has done a great job to ensure it has a robust and reliable power supply to serve the region," said Bob Dalrymbye, Vice President of Gas Operations for TVA.
The plant replaces two of the four units at the nearby John Sevier Fossil Fuel Plant. It also helps to meet more stringent EPA air quality standards.
"One of things they're looking at is nitrous oxide, sulfurous oxide and CO2 and mercury, and there are no mercury emissions from a gas-fire plant," said Roe.
In combined-cycle operation, residual heat from the gas turbine exhaust is captured to produce steam that generates additional electricity from a steam turbine.
The ability to run in either combined-cycle or simple-cycle mode provides voltage stability and reliability to the northeast region of the TVA system.
The John Sevier Cycle Plant is TVA's fifth owned or leased combined-cycle natural gas fired plant and the second of TVA's combined plants in Tennessee.
TVA is also working on the second reactor at the Watts Bar Plant where construction is slated to finish late 2015.
The plant makes enough to power around 500,000 homes.
