Widows Creek Fossil Plant

Widows Creek Fossil Plant, named for a creek that flows through the plant site, is located on Guntersville Reservoir on the Tennessee River in northeast Alabama. Groundbreaking for the plant occurred on March 28, 1950. The first of the original six units began generating power on July 1, 1952.

The 500 MW Turbo-generator on unit seven was placed in operation in February of 1961 and was the world’s largest at the time.  Unit 7 brought new technology to TVA including cross-compound turbines and steam driven boiler feedwater pumps. 

The final operating unit, unit 8, began operation in February 1965.  With the addition of unit 8, Widows Creek Fossil Plant became the largest generating station in the country with the capability to produce 1750 MW.  Unit 8 would go on to become the first TVA unit to be retrofitted with scrubber equipment.

Units 1 through 6 were retired in stages between May 2012 and July 2013. Unit 8 was idled in October 2014.  The last of the eight operating units, unit 7, was removed from service in September of 2015.

Toxics Release Inventory

TVA is required to report annually to the Environmental Protection Agency on the amounts of chemicals released by its fossil-fuel plants. Check here for the latest data on Widows Creek.

Emissions Data

TVA monitors other emissions at its fossil plants, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide and mercury. Check here for the latest data on Widows Creek.