Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Plant Upgrade Project

摘要

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Plant islocated six miles west of Chattanooga, Tennessee on the Tennessee River’s NickajackReservoir. The plant consists of four units initially rated at 425 MVA with a maximumhead of 1040 feet. The plant was first placed into initial operation on December 31,1978 with the largest pumped turbines in the world at that time.In 1995, TVA’s Integrated Resource Plan identified the need for additional peaking andbase load capacity. A Raccoon Mountain upgrade project was identified as a viablecapacity increase option which could at the same time address operational and designproblems that the plant had experienced since it was first placed in operation. ARaccoon Mountain Upgrade Project was approved by TVA’s Board of Directors in 1998.Each upgraded Raccoon unit will be rated at 476 MVA. With the installation of a newwater cooled stator and new turbine runner, Raccoon Mountain becomes one of thehighest rated capacity pump / turbine motor generator units in the United States. Theoverall project will result in a 12% peaking capacity increase, and an anticipated 2%improvement in cycle efficiency.This paper describes project background, expectations, planning details, selecteddesign enhancements, and installation challenges for the November 3, 2000 to March6, 2001 Unit 1 upgrade outage.