TVA upgrading generators inside the Chickamauga Dam

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The TVA says they are in the process of upgrading Chickamauga Dam.

The six floor Chickamauga Dam plant can generate up to 142 megawatts of electricity with its generators.

The portions of the dam include the main generating floor with those four generators, and the turbines underneath them that transport water from the river up to them.

Built in the 1930s as a part of TVA’s efforts to control flooding along the Tennessee River, the time has come to upgrade each of the four generators inside of the Dam.

One of the power generators at Chickamauga Dam being worked on as part of upgrades.

They were last upgraded in the 1990s.

Robby Floyd, the General Manager for hydroelectric generation, said, “So we’re starting on Unit 4, spending about $60 million dollars, to basically rehab the turbine generation and all of our electrical components to the generator for its longevity for power production as well as flood control.”

That flood control is on the mind of many following last month’s devastating flash flooding in the Chattanooga metro.

The TVA also was severely affected last year by Hurricane Helene, which caused a strain on several dams in Northeastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina, but none of those dams failed.

Floyd said, “Power generation is a subset of what we do, but it’s really moving water to avert flood control damages, to avert any impacts to recreational activities as well as just being able to enjoy the Tennessee River as a whole.”

He says that the Chickamauga Dam is a linchpin of the TVA system, and these upgrades will keep the dam in working order for some time. 

Floyd said, “These updates we’re expecting to get 30 to 40 years of the longevity of these upgrades.”

The rehab of each individual generator takes about 500 days, and this project will rehab each generator one after another.