TVA study suggests keeping Shawnee units

TVA is considering shutting down or retrofitting units 1 and 4 at the Shawnee Fossil Plant

The Tennessee Valley Authority will install more pollution controls and continue to operate all nine units at its Shawnee Fossil Plant in Kentucky if TVA directors accept a staff recommendation unveiled today.

TVA's preliminary environmental assessment suggests that installing scrubbers and selective catalytic reduction devices on units 1 and 4 at the Shawnee plant would be preferable to shutting the two coal units down by 2017. The recommendation still must be reviewed and approved by the TVA board before the end of the year and may be reversed within the next two years. But a 68-page draft environmental report released today suggests the best alternative is to keep running units 1 and 4 by installing air pollution controls on the coal units.

"By implementing this alternative, TVA would comply with the U.S. EPA Clean Air Agreements consistent with TVA's mission to provide reliable and affordable power and TVA's goal of maintaining a balanced portfolio of generation resources," the environmental report concludes. "These small coal-fired units have enhanced value on the TVA system because of their load following capabilities. The costs of installing the proposed (pollution control) systems-$175 to $200 million -- also are relatively low compared to those of emission controls installed at other TVA plants."

The Shawnee plant in Paducah, Ky., was among the coal units TVA agreed to either clean up or shut down by 2018 under an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency and environmental groups that had sued TVA for air pollution violations.

TVA said the overwhelming majority of the 85 comments made about whether to shut down or clean up the units recommended that TVA keep the units running and install the pollution controls. Supporters of the Shawnee plant in Paducah, Ky., said maintaining the 60-year-old units would help maintain electricity reliability in the northern portions of TVA's service territory while preserving the TVA jobs at the plant.

TVA previously installed pollution controls on seven other units at Shawnee but closed unit 10.

Construction at Shawnee began in 1951 and was completed in 1957. The plant consumes some 9,600 tons of coal a day.

TVA previously examined converting coal units at Shawnee and elsewhere to burn biomass, but it did not prove to be feasible.

TVA will continue to receive comments about the future of the Shawnee plant through Dec. 9. Public comments can be submitted on the TVA website, or in writing to Charles P. Nicholson, PhD, NEPA Compliance, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 11B, Knoxville, TN 37902-1499, or by email at cpnicholson@tva.gov.