Above average rainfall and modernized generators teamed to help the Tennessee Valley Authority set an all-time record for hydroelectric generation in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
The dams provided 18.5 million megawatt-hours of electricity, the most in any year in the TVA’s 80-year history. Production topped the previous record, set in 1973, by 122, 000 MWh.
TVA officials credited rainfall — almost 62 inches, which is 121 percent of average — and upgrades to the system for the record.
“Since 1992, TVA has upgraded 55 of its 109 conventional hydro generating units, ” the agency stated in a press release, and its board approved another $340 million to modernize 51 more units.
The agency has 29 hydroelectric dams in the Tennessee Valley.
Text by Nedra Bloom
