Paradise Fossil Plant

Paradise Fossil Plant is located in western Kentucky on the Green River near the village of Paradise. The plant has three units, completed between 1963 and 1970, and three large natural-draft cooling towers. In 1985 a barge-unloading facility was added so that coal could be delivered by barge as well as by train and truck.

Balancing efficient power production with environmental protection

Electricity is produced at Paradise’s three coal-fired units by the process of heating water in a boiler to produce steam. Under extremely high pressure, the steam flows into a turbine that spins a generator to make electricity.

Paradise generates 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year –enough to supply more than 950,000 homes. The plant has three large natural-draft cooling towers and is TVA's only coal-fired plant with cooling towers.

Low-cost and cleaner energy

Through 2011, TVA has spent about $5.4 billion on emissions controls at its fossil-fuel plants to help TVA produce power as cleanly as possible. This includes installation of selective catalytic reduction systems to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by about 90 percent and scrubbers to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions at Paradise.

View more information about emissions at Paradise and the steps TVA is taking to control them.

In support of recent environmental agreements and its vision of being one of the nation’s leading providers of low-cost and cleaner energy by 2020, TVA will upgrade the performance of the scrubbers on Paradise units 1 and 2 by Dec. 31, 2012. These scrubbers were originally installed in the early 1980s.

Toxics Release Inventory

TVA is required to report annually to the Environmental Protection Agency on the amounts of chemicals released by its fossil-fuel plants. Check here for the latest data on Paradise.

Emissions Data

TVA monitors other emissions at its fossil plants, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide and mercuy. Check here for the latest data on Paradise.