Widows Creek Fossil Plant
Widows Creek Fossil Plant was a 1.6-gigawatt coal power plant, east of Stevenson, Alabama, USA. The plant, operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, generated about nine billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. It had one of the tallest chimneys in the world at, which was built in 1977, and was removed December 3, 2020 in a controlled demolition.
Along with the Chimney of the Harllee Branch Power Plant, it is the tallest chimney to be demolished in the United States.
History
Initially, six identical 140-MWe units were built between 1952 and 1954. Two more units were added in 1961 and 1965.The last load of coal was delivered to the plant on September 18, 2015, with only one of its eight generation units working. The coal was enough to power Unit 7 until September 23, 2015.
Accidents and incidents
On January 9, 2009, the plant experienced a dam break on a gypsum slurry pond, and spilled up to of waste into the creek of the same name on the property, inundating it with an ashlike substance.EPA compliance agreement
On April 14, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement with the Tennessee Valley Authority to resolve alleged Clean Air Act violations at 11 of its coal-fired plants in Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Under the terms of the agreement, the entire Widows Creek plant was affected:- Units 1-6 were retired in stages of two units per year, beginning by July 31, 2013 and ending by July 31, 2015
- Units 7 & 8 were to be fitted with selective catalytic reduction devices to reduce their emissions of nitrogen oxide
- In December, 2020, the towering smokestack at the Widows Creek Fossil Plant, standing at a height of 1,001 feet, was brought down in a controlled demolition using explosives. This operation, completed in a mere 90 seconds, effectively situated along the Tennessee River.