COLBERT COUNTY-On Thursday, November 21 TVA gave a tour of the Colbert Fossil Plant and explained plans for demolition of the plant.
According to David Halicks, senior project manager of the Decommissioning Program it will be 18 months to two years before actual demolition starts.
TVA spokesman Scott Fiedler said, “Our goal is to get this site ready for redevelopment. It will take about 4 years. Currently we have gotten all the equipment out that we can use in other facilities. Now asbestos remover has started. That will take about 18 months. After that we will start the demo of the building. The towers will be the last to go. Both ash impoundments on the site have been closed and capped. He said they will be monitored for decades to come.”
TVA has been moving away from coal for years, and Fiedler said 60 percent of TVA’s power generation today is carbon free. TVA intends to increase that amount to 70 percent by 2030. Right now only about 3% of TVA’s power generation capacity is based on renewable energy sources.
Once the property has been restored to its natural condition TVA will market the site for economic development.
A few facts about the Colbert Fossil Plant:
Colbert Fossil Plant is located on 1,354 acres on the south shore of Pickwick Landing Lake in Colbert County, Ala. The plant is named in honor of George Colbert, former chief of the Chickasaw Nation.
· Commercial operation began on Jan. 18, 1955 and electricity generation ended 61 years later on March 23, 2016.
· Colbert Fossil Plant had five generators, with a combined net generating capacity of 1,204 megawatts – enough power for about 700,000 homes.
· Demolition starts this winter and the target brownfield restoration completion date target is 2023.
· HOMRICH, Inc. was named demolition contractor for the Colbert project. Eighty to ninety workers will be onsite during peak demolition operations.
· TVA’s goal is to restore the site to brownfield that is ready for redevelopment.
· To reduce its carbon footprint, TVA has closed five fossil plants over the past seven years and is planning to close two more fossil plants by the end of 2030.
· TVA completed power uprates at its Browns Ferry Nuclear plant generating an additional 465 megawatts of carbon-free electricity. Currently, nearly 60 percent of the electricity TVA generates is carbon-free and the utility calls for continued carbon reductions over the next 20 years.
Photos/Scott Fielder/TVA
