The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has four coal plants that include 24 units with a combined net capacity of 5,815 megawatts. These coal plants have operated well beyond their original book life and are among the oldest still in operation in the nation. Due to the performance and cost risks of operating an aging coal fleet, we performed an evaluation of coal plant asset condition to determine if TVA had assessed the condition of assets and had plans in place to address degradation.
We determined that TVA did not assess the condition of some assets annually, as required. We also determined that some assets were not properly classified as “Tier 1” critical assets in TVA’s asset management system and/or tracked in the Generation Asset Health dashboard. In addition, while TVA has plans to address some asset degradation, there are several assets in poor condition without a plan for remediation.
