TVA to Idle Nine Coal-Fired Units
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
The Tennessee Valley Authority, with a vision to be one of the nation's
leading providers of low-cost and cleaner energy by 2020, announced
Tuesday that it will idle nine coal-fired electric generating units,
totaling about 1,000 megawatts, at three of its power plants beginning
in fiscal year 2011.
Those units are: Shawnee Unit 10 near Paducah, Ky.; John Sevier Units 1
and 2 near Rogersville, Tenn., and Widows Creek Units 1-6 near
Stevenson, Ala.
TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore unveiled a strategy to replace some of
TVA's older and less-efficient coal-fired units with other sources of
low-carbon and carbon-free power generation at Friday's meeting of the
TVA Board of Directors.
"Much of our stakeholder input and other assessments point
toward a greater reliance on nuclear power and energy efficiency and
less reliance on coal," he said. "Replacing some coal with other,
cleaner fuel sources allows a reduction in air emissions including
carbon. One of TVA's key goals is to improve air quality."
TVA announced the plans to its employees and the leaders of communities
around the affected units on Tuesday. Two units at the Widows Creek
plant will be idled in fiscal year 2011, and four other units there will
be idled between 2011 and 2015. Shawnee Unit 10 will be idled and
evaluated for possible conversion to biomass fuel. Two units at John
Sevier will be idled within the next four to five years.
Most TVA power plants have multiple generating units, and some units
will continue to operate at all plant sites under Tuesday's
announcement. In addition, natural gas-fired generation units are under
construction at the John Sevier site. Additional natural gas and nuclear
generating units are under construction at other TVA locations.
"We will work to lessen the impact on employees," Kilgore said. "We are
looking at a number of ways to create new opportunities and options for
most, if not all, employees affected. We do not expect that involuntary
staffing reductions would be necessary, but we can make no guarantees.
The units will be idled in phases, which will allow many affected
employees time to plan and pursue new opportunities.
No employee layoffs are associated with the units being idled in 2011.
Coal-fired units are evaluated on the basis of original designs,
economics and efficiency, overall performance, cost to operate and the
cost to bring them into compliance with anticipated environmental
regulations. Watts Bar Fossil Plant, which was shut down in 1983, was
the last TVA coal-fired plant to be retired.
"TVA has a strong commitment to improving air quality and has spent more
than $5.3 billion to reduce air emissions," Kilgore said. "Last year,
sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions for the TVA coal fleet were
about 90 percent lower than during their peak years."
The TVA coal fleet consists of 59 units at 11 plants with about 15,000
megawatts of generation. Of that amount, about 8,000 megawatts are
equipped with advanced environmental controls and will remain part of
TVA's long-term generating capacity. Other units totaling about 6,000
megawatts would require scrubbers or other advanced environmental
equipment additions in the future. Those units will be evaluated to
determine whether to install controls, idle them or replace them with
alternative generation.
"This is a difficult step, but it's the right thing to do," Kilgore
said. "We will work with employees and local communities to ease the
transition."
The Tennessee Valley Authority, a corporation owned by the U.S.
government, provides electricity for utility and business customers in
most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia,
North Carolina and Virginia - an area of 80,000 square miles with a
population of 9 million. TVA operates 29 hydroelectric dams, 11
coal-fired power plants, three nuclear plants and 11 natural gas-fired
power facilities and supplies up to 33,700 megawatts of electricity,
delivered over 16,000 miles of high- voltage power lines. TVA also
provides flood control, navigation, land management and recreation for
the Tennessee River system and works with local utilities and state and
local governments to promote economic development across the region.
TVA, which makes no profits and receives no taxpayer money, is funded by
sales of electricity to its customers. Electricity prices in TVA's
service territory are below the national average.
For short video clips of the affected plants go to: www.tva.com/
news/video.
SOURCE Tennessee Valley Authority
Originally published by Tennessee Valley Authority.
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