A 200-ton stator, the stationary component of an electric generator, being shipped by barge from a TVA plant in Shawnee, Kentucky, to another one in Kingston, Tennessee. (Photos courtesy TVA)
Submitted
KINGSTON—The holiday tradition of gift giving came a bit early this year for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant due to the generosity of a sister TVA plant in Shawnee, Kentucky. And, though it wasn’t Santa performing the delivery, the 200-ton generator stator made a significant journey involving the hard work of many.
During a maintenance outage at Kingston Unit 1, the existing stator—the stationary component of an electric generator—was determined to be beyond repair. Designed and built more than 50 years ago, modern replacement components aren’t available, so the Kingston team was looking at the possibility of a complete generator replacement.
When the TVA team at Shawnee heard about the challenges at Kingston, they realized they had the perfect “gift.†Unit 10 at the Shawnee plant was retired four years ago, but had the same Siemens-Westinghouse generator as Kingston, and it was still in operating condition.
“Such equipment swaps have been done in the industry before, but it’s rare, and this is the first time TVA has moved a generator from one plant to another,†said Ken Lewis, a retired Maintenance and Engineering manager who returned to lead the project.
Too large to easily transport by road, the stator was placed on a barge and transported through the Ohio and Tennessee River systems. An unexpected closure of the Chickamauga Lock threatened to derail the journey, but the Corps of Engineers and numerous TVA organizations pitched in to ensure that the lock was quickly repaired and the stator safely completed its trip.
In the end, the residents of the Tennessee Valley were the real recipients of this gift. Kingston Unit 1 returned to operation earlier this month and, with the relocated generator stator in place, is now producing up to 140 megawatts of power in time for winter’s higher electricity demands.
“It was really rewarding to see the level of collaboration among those working both inside and outside TVA to get this unit back in service,†said Doug Keeling, Kingston plant manager. “Beyond the fantastic teams at Shawnee and Kingston, it took several TVA organizations, contractor groups, and the Corps of Engineers all pulling together to make this plan a reality.â€
TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant is located near Kingston. Completed in 1955, its nine coal-fired boilers produce enough steam to generate about 8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, enough to power about 540,000 homes.
Note: This press release was submitted by TVA.
The stator being lifted at the Shawnee plant.
The stator leaving the Shawnee plant.
The stator in operation at Kingston Unit 1.
Susan Gawarecki says
The Chickamauga Lock is an essential element in the transportation system of the Tennessee Valley. Unfortunately it has long been deteriorating and was identified as needing repairs decades ago. Now it is nearly at the point of failure. Our elected officials seem helpless when it comes to getting this job done–all their efforts seem to go into raising money for the next election and promoting their fealty to partisan causes.
johnhuotari says
I don’t know if it helps, Susan, but Sen. Alexander did recently have a press release related to a plan to replace the Chickamauga Lock, possibly as early as 2016. You can see the release here: http://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=244c65c0-0464-45cf-877d-0d8faee2d1e7
Susan Gawarecki says
Let’s revisit the subject in two years and see how much has been accomplished. Personally, I’m not optimistic we’ll see any progress, although I’d like to be surprised.
johnhuotari says
I haven’t followed this issue closely, but it does seem like this is one of the longer-running federal issues in the decade or so that I’ve been a reporter in this area. I believe this was an issue for former Rep. Zach Wamp as well.