Paradise no more. TVA votes to close iconic coal-burning power plant in Kentucky.

kentucky.com ^ | 02/14/2019 | Bill Estep

[GIdget2004]

In the end, not even a tweet from President Donald Trump could save an iconic coal-burning power plant in Western Kentucky.

The Tennessee Valley Authority board voted Thursday to close the final burner at the Paradise coal-fired plant in Muhlenberg County by the end of 2020.

Residents had warned that closing Unit 3 at the plant, which employs 131 people, would hurt the local economy and force people to move away for work, and Trump sent a tweet earlier this week urging TVA to consider all factors before voting to close viable power plants like Unit 3 at Paradise.

However, an analysis by the utility said the aging Unit 3 had deteriorated, had a relatively high rate of unplanned shutdowns, and would require significant costs for mechanical and environmental upgrades to keep it running.

[Jim Robinson]

Shut the TVA down.

[Thumper1960]

I wonder what John Denver would say.

[meatloaf]

Since they finally got the second unit of Watts Bar on line, did they really need Paradise’s capacity?

[TADSLOS]

The TVA. Komrad Roosevelt’s gift that keeps on giving...

[NorthMountain]

The TVA currently generates 35 gigawatts of power. What exactly do you mean by “Shut the TVA down”?

[Jeff Chandler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RqQMTSf_nM

[blueunicorn6]

Daddy won’t you take me back to Muhlenburg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Sorry my Son but you’re too late in asking
The Democrats want you poor you’re easier to control that way.

[the_daug]

Paradise by John Prine

[Jeff Chandler]

Different state — I know, but the feeling’s the same.

Besides, any excuse to hear Dave Alvin.

[yesthatjallen]

However, an analysis by the utility said the aging Unit 3 had deteriorated, had a relatively high rate of unplanned shutdowns, and would require significant costs for mechanical and environmental upgrades to keep it running.

I have nothing against coal but if the plant was in fact old, inefficient, and in need of costly repairs to keep it operational it may have simply outlived its' usefulness.

As long as other plants can make up the difference it seems the correct decision is to retire the plant.

I wish all the best for the employees in finding news jobs.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I spent my first five years out of college starting up generating units like this, so it's hard to see them shut down. But they do have an original design life of 30 years and, with life extension, often can hit 40 - 50 years. Most of the equipment I started up in the early and mid 70s is now shut down and has often been demolished. I remember when they were new like it was yesterday.

I have no doubt that shutting No. 3 down is an economic decision. Replacing it with an ultra-high efficiency gas turbine combined cycle makes a lot of sense.

Construction on the Paradise plant began in 1959, and the first two units entered commercial service in 1963. Those two 700-MW units are subcritical designs. At the time, No 1 and No 2 were the largest operating units in the world. May 19, 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the commercial operation of the first unit. FIFTY YEARS!

Unit 3, a cyclone furnace supercritical unit rated at 1,150 MW, became operational in 1970. In 1985, a barge-unloading facility was added so that coal could be delivered by barge as well as by train and truck.

Paradise units 1 and 2 were retired in 2017. TVA is invested approximately $1 billion to build a gas-fired plant that to replace Paradise units 1 and 2. The new combined cycle plant was opened in April of 2017.

Paradise is TVA’s only coal-fired plant with cooling towers, which are more usually are seen at nuclear plants.

[DocRock]

I grew up close enough to the Paradise Fossil Fuel plant that I could see the stacks. It was so big it was a primary target in the cold war. There are probably nukes with that address still programed. During the Cuban missle crisis, my grandfather was in the oil business. He called his in his Haliburton concrete pumpers and poured the first thermonuclear bombshelter in the state because of that plant. Pretty cool growing up with a bunker, before bunkers were cool!

[Buckeye McFrog]

I’m going to go Occam’s Razor here and say that the plant is reaching the end of its useful life, and would cost more to repair than the alternatives.

[Myrddin]

The Miller Steam Plant in Alabama is similar. My coal car research cars were run between Miller and east WY coal mines.

[PLMerite]

Awesome song. Been a John Prine fan since early 1970s.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

There was an enormous growth in power generation in the 50s, 60s and 70s, much of it coal fired. All of those plants are at the end of their economic lifetime...as are the nukes built in the same era.

The US utilities better get serious about replacement power. Unfortunately, utilities are paying far too much attention to Renewable Portfolio Standards which leads to all sorts of gimmicky wind and solar plants, not serious, around-the-clock reliable generation.

In many states, standards are measured by the percentage of retail electric sales. Iowa and Texas, however, require specific amounts of renewable energy capacity rather than percentages and Kansas requires a percentage of peak demand. while most state targets are between 10 and 45 percent, seven states—California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Vermont, and Washington, D.C.—have requirements of 50 percent or greater. RPS requirements can apply only to investor-owned utilities (IOUs), although many states also include municipalities and electric cooperatives (Munis and Co-ops), sometimes with a lower target.

This ridiculous RPS experiment is going to end badly with ultra-high cost unreliable power. Yet the politicians (who know nothing about power) keep pushing it, all because of the fictitious "climate change."

What were your research cars studying?

[Bratch]

I like the Patti Loveless version better.

Patty Loveless "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive"

BTW, Harlan and Harlan County is in Eastern Kentucky; Paradise is toward the western end.

[Reeses]

Fossil Fuel

Coal and crude oil do contain millions of microscopic fossils but maybe they should be marketed as "natural fuel" instead. Swamp gas is marketed as "natural gas". Crude oil could also be called baked algae fuel except some hippies might start drinking it.

[woodbutcher1963]

Meanwhile up here in NH/MA nobody wants a natural gas line from PA in their backyard. Plus they do not want a power line from Quebec to bring down hydro electric power south. They do not want the transmission lines because it will ruin their view or decrease property values. There is enough excess hydro electric power available from the dams on the Saint Lawrence Seaway to power most of New England.