Tennessee Valley Authority
Kingston Fossil Plant
Kingston Fossil Plant is located on Watts Bar Reservoir on the Tennessee River near Kingston, Tennessee. At the time it was finished in 1955, Kingston was the largest coal-burning power plant in the world, a distinction it held for more than a decade.
Balancing efficient power production with environmental protection
Electricity is produced at each of Kingston’s nine 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.
Kingston generates about 8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to power about 540,000 homes.
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, consistent with efficiency. This includes installation of selective catalytic reduction systems to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by about 90 percent and scrubbers to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by about 95 percent at Kingston.
View more information about emissions at Kingston and the steps TVA is taking to control them.
Kingston Recovery
TVA is working diligently to clean up the land and water in the area affected by an ash spill at Kingston in December 2008. TVA is working closely with leaders and residents of Roane County to regain public trust, promote economic development, and make the area better than it was before the spill.
The first phase of recovery work has essentially been completed. The Emory River was reopened May 29, 2010, after TVA removed more than 3.5 million cubic yards of ash and sediment from the river and adjoining areas.
TVA is now consolidating spilled ash that did not enter the river and preparing to store it onsite in a dredge cell that is being rebuilt and reinforced to resist earthquakes. Read more about the recovery effort here.