The Tennessee Valley Authority announcing they are adding a much-needed 500 megawatts of energy to the region’s power grid, with the completion of ten new aeroderivative gas turbines in Tennessee.
The Johnsonville Combustion Turbine is west of Nashville and now with these ten new turbines, the site can now provide more than 1,200 megawatts of power to the grid. 500 new megawatts of electricity is enough to power almost 300,000 homes.
Senior Project Manager Justin McBath says these turbines have a fast-start option, which means the units are highly flexible, helping the TVA meet the demand this growing region brings.
Last month, the units were put to the test as the region experienced its first heatwave. The average system temperature on June 25, 2025, of 96 degrees was the same as June 25 a year ago — but the TVA saw an approximate 500-megawatt increase in demand in that same span.
McBath says this project is a huge boon for the region as a whole, which just means better reliability for keeping the lights on.
He says these units are important because of their rapid response feature, and creates completely new, clean energy generation.
The aeroderivative turbines may be the first of their kind for the TVA, but they won’t be the last, as construction is already underway on more turbines at the site of the Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tennessee.