DRAKESBORO, Ky. (KT) – Three new state-of-the-art natural gas units designed to withstand temperature extremes are now online at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Paradise Combined Cycle Plant in Drakesboro, just in time for winter weather.
The combustion turbine units, which are designed to start within minutes when electricity demand increases, add an additional 750 megawatts of generation capacity to TVA’s operating fleet, enough to power more than 440,000 average homes. The units began commercial operation on Dec. 31. During testing, the three units came online to full power within 11 minutes.
The new units in Muhlenberg County join three other combustion turbines (CT) that began operating in July at the Colbert site in northern Alabama. Together, the two new sites add almost 1,500 megawatts to the grid that didn’t exist last winter.
“Natural gas is an important part of our transition to a carbon-neutral future while maintaining reliability,” said TVA President and CEO Jeff Lyash. “These state-of-the-art units will allow us to respond quickly to load demand and improve flexibility as we add more renewable energy, which is not always available on demand.”
The new units are part of TVA’s plan to add more than 3,800 megawatts of generation to the grid by 2028, according to Jamie Cook, TVA General Manager of Major Projects. “Many of TVA’s new CTs are replacing older, less efficient units. Natural gas units are cleaner than coal-fired generation.We can also operate them when other sources of generation, like solar, aren’t available. They supplement those sources with reliable power when we need it most.”
The Tennessee Valley Authority, which was established 90 years ago, is the nation’s largest public power supplier, delivering energy to 10 million people in Kentucky and six other southeastern states.
The Kentucky service area includes Adair, Allen, Barren, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Clinton, Cumberland, Edmonson, Fulton, Graves, Grayson, Hickman, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, Metcalfe, Monroe, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Simpson, Todd, Trigg, Warren and Whitley counties.
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