TVA Power Production at an All Time High

[MolaKule]

"Breaking a new all-time record for June, Thursday's peak power demand was 31,617 megawatts at 6 pm ET at an average system temp of 97°. The previous record for June was 31,311 MW, set on Monday. Thursday was the fourth consecutive day above 30,000 MW. Working 24/7, our dedicated and skilled operators dispatch generation when demand increases and watch over the power and transmission system In our System Operations Center to ensure the supply of reliable electricity to your local power company and large direct-serve industries."

http://tva.me/kXRE50JAao6

 

[Vern_in_IL]

Yup, and Illinois is closing our coal plants.... with no guarantee to replace that lost capacity.
Even our "state of the art" plant.

 

[JHZR2]

People need to run their AC less.

 

[Gyro Gearloose]

And that's just the peak in June. The all time TVA historical peak was in August 2007 at 33482 Megawatts with a system average temperature of 102. Fasten your seat belts. The summer is young.

 

[john_pifer]

If you're interested in electrical power generation, you might be interested in reading about Raccoon Mountain. It's TVA's largest hydroelectric facility.

It's a reservoir built on top of Raccoon Mountain. At the base of the mountain is Nickajack Lake. It acts as a sort of battery for the electrical grid. During periods of high electrical demand, a gate is opened at the base of the mountain, allowing water to flow out of the reservoir on top of the mountain, and through turbines, into Nickajack Lake.

When demand is low, the turbines are reversed, and the reservoir on top of the mountain is refilled.

I bet it's been in heavy use this past week, with the heat wave we just had!

https://www.tva.com/energy/our-power-system/hydroelectric/raccoon-mountain

Raccoon Mountain Pumped-Storage Plant - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The mountain biking trails on the mountain are my favorite place to ride!

Here are a few photos from a Raccoon Mountain MTB trip:

 

[Gyro Gearloose]

We lived in Chattanooga up until just before Y2K and the area behind the Racoon Mtn dam was one of the best kept park secrets in town. Hardly ever any body up there and the walking trail along the river was gorgeous. Then 9/11 happened and they closed the area. Glad to see its open again.

 

[OVERKILL]

If you're interested in electrical power generation, you might be interested in reading about Raccoon Mountain. It's TVA's largest hydroelectric facility.

It's a reservoir built on top of Raccoon Mountain. At the base of the mountain is Nickajack Lake. It acts as a sort of battery for the electrical grid. During periods of high electrical demand, a gate is opened at the base of the mountain, allowing water to flow out of the reservoir on top of the mountain, and through turbines, into Nickajack Lake.

When demand is low, the turbines are reversed, and the reservoir on top of the mountain is refilled.

I bet it's been in heavy use this past week, with the heat wave we just had!

https://www.tva.com/energy/our-power-system/hydroelectric/raccoon-mountain

Raccoon Mountain Pumped-Storage Plant - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The mountain biking trails on the mountain are my favorite place to ride!

Here are a few photos from a Raccoon Mountain MTB trip:

View attachment 104275View attachment 104276View attachment 104277

Now that's some decent sized storage! Absolutely dwarfs these "big battery" installs.

Of note, it says it takes 28hrs to refill. Wonder how that looks if they have multiple hot days in a row with high demand?

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Takes power to pump heat uphill.