Tennessee Valley Authority
Johnsonville Fossil Plant
Johnsonville Fossil Plant is located on the east bank of the Tennessee River near Waverly, Tenn. It is the oldest fossil plant in the TVA system.
Balancing efficient power production with environmental protection
Electricity is produced at Johnsonville’s 10 coal-fired units by 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.
Johnsonville can generate about 1,500 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to supply about 800,000 homes.
Johnsonville Units 1 through 4 also provide steam to a nearby DuPont plant in a co-generation configuration. Johnsonville is the only TVA coal-fired cogeneration facility.
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 non-catalytic reduction systems to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions at Johnsonville units 1 through 4.
View more information about emissions at Johnsonville and the steps TVA is taking to control them.
In support of recent environmental agreements, TVA will retire six Johnsonville units no later than Dec. 31, 2015, and the remaining four units no later than Dec. 31, 2017.
TVA idled Johnsonville units 7 through 10 effective March 1, 2012 — earlier than required by the agreements.
Combustion turbines
TVA added 16 combustion-turbine units at Johnsonville in the early 1970s and another four in 2000. These units can burn fuel oil or natural gas and are designed to start quickly. They are designed to start quickly and typically are operated only during peak demand periods.