TVA invites residents to Ackerman plant dedication ceremony
The Tennessee Valley Authority announced on Monday that it will hold a dedication ceremony for its new Ackerman natural gas plant on Wednesday, May 11 at 1pm, and invited local residents to tour the new facility.
The new plant, located at 2510 Pensacola Dr. in Ackerman, Mississippi, is the newest addition to TVA’s energy portfolio. The plant can power more than 400,000 homes at a full generating capacity of 705 megawatts of electricity. The combined-cycle natural gas plant can reach full power in approximately 20 minutes.
After the dedication ceremony, TVA staff will gives tours of the facility to local residents and answer questions about the plant and its operations. Ackerman is the fifth generating plant in Mississippi to join TVA’s energy portfolio.
TVA is diversifying its generation portfolio. In 2007, natural gas accounted for only 10 percent of TVA’s offerings. Natural gas accounted for 19 percent of its generating capacity last year, and TVA hopes to increase that to 23 percent of total generation by 2020.
The Ackerman facility was built in 2007 and was owned and operated by another utility until last year. TVA purchased the plant last year and made facility, mechanical and technological upgrades, including new offices for employees.
Including the Ackerman facility, TVA operates 106 natural gas- and fuel oil-fired generators at 14 sites, totaling 7,000 megawatts of power.
