Widows Creek Fossil Plant facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Widows Creek Fossil Plant |
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Widows Creek Fossil Plant
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| Country | United States |
| Location | Jackson County, near Stevenson, Alabama |
| Coordinates | 34°53′03″N 85°45′18″W / 34.88417°N 85.75500°W |
| Status | B |
| Commission date | Unit 1: July, 1952 Unit 2: October, 1952 Unit 3: November, 1952 Unit 4: January, 1953 Unit 5: June, 1954 Unit 6: July, 1954 Unit 7: February, 1961 Unit 8: February, 1965 |
| Decommission date | Unit 7: September, 2015 |
| Owner(s) | Tennessee Valley Authority |
The Widows Creek Fossil Plant, also known as the Widows Creek Power Plant, was a large power station in Jackson County, Alabama, USA. It used coal to make electricity. The plant could produce 1,600 megawatts of power.
This power plant was run by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). It made about nine billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. Widows Creek also had one of the tallest chimneys in the world. This chimney was 305 meters (1,000 feet) tall. It was built in 1977 and taken down on December 3, 2020. It was the tallest chimney ever taken down in the United States.
How the Plant Started
The Widows Creek plant was built in stages. The first six power-making units were set up between 1952 and 1954. These units were all the same size.
Later, two more units were added. One was built in 1961 and the other in 1965. This made the plant even bigger.
The last delivery of coal arrived at the plant on September 18, 2015. At that time, only one of its eight units was still working. This last bit of coal was enough to keep Unit 7 running until September 23, 2015.
Protecting Our Air: The EPA Agreement
On April 14, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made an announcement. The EPA is a government group that works to protect the environment. They reached an agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority.
This agreement was about fixing problems with air pollution. It involved 11 of TVA's coal plants, including Widows Creek. The EPA said these plants were not following the Clean Air Act. This is a law that helps keep our air clean.
Under this agreement, the Widows Creek plant had to make big changes:
- Units 1 through 6 were closed down. This happened in steps, with two units closing each year. The last of these units closed by July 31, 2015.
- Units 7 and 8 were supposed to get special equipment. This equipment, called selective catalytic reduction (SCR) devices, would help clean up their pollution. It would reduce harmful gases like nitrogen oxide.
A New Future: Google's Data Center
After some of the power units were closed, the land became available. On June 24, 2015, the company Google announced a big plan. They decided to build a data center on the land where Units 1-6 used to be.
Google said they would invest $600 million in this project. A data center is like a giant computer storage facility. It needs a lot of electricity to run.
Google also promised that the data center would use renewable energy. This means the power would come from sources like solar or wind. New renewable power sources would be added to the TVA system to match the data center's needs. Construction on this new project began in April 2018.
