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How Hydropower Works

How Hydropower Works

TVA was created to help make life better for the people living in the region. Building dams on the Tennessee River was part of how TVA does this.

Dams built along the river helped people in many ways.  These large walls hold back water. Holding the water helped:

Flooding

Stop flooding.

Shipping

Ship goods along the river.

Fishing

Create places to swim, fish and hike.

But the dams also gave TVA the ability to produce electricity.

Dam
Hydroelectric power provides about 5,500 megawatts of TVA’s electricity.
Electricity

The first electricity TVA made came from hydroelectric dams.

Power

TVA operates 29 hydroelectric dams on the Tennessee River system and the Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Plant. TVA also buys electricity generated at other dams in Tennessee and North Carolina.  

Wilbur Dam

How Does Hydroelectric Power Work?

Water runs hydroelectric power-generating units. The water is held behind a dam, making an artificial lake – or reservoir.

When the water is released, it spins the blades of giant turbines. The turbine is connected to the generator, which makes electricity as it spins.

The water passes through the turbine and flows into the river below the dam.

Hydroelectric power is a type of renewable energy. 

A Water Battery

TVA’s Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Plant is a hydroelectric facility that works like a giant battery.

Located just outside Chattanooga, the facility has a large reservoir overlooking the Tennessee River. Water is pumped from the river to the reservoir during times when there is low demand for energy.

It takes 28 hours to fill the upper reservoir.

When demand for electricity rises, TVA can release the water in the upper reservoir. It flows through turbines in the mountain’s underground power plant.

It can produce 1,700 megawatts of electricity.

TVA is currently exploring building a new pumped storage hydroelectric plant to add more energy storage.

Raccoon Mountain
Dam Safety

Glossary:

Dam – A wall built across a river to hold back water and create a lake.

Reservoir – A man-made lake that stores water behind a dam.

Turbine – A machine with blades that spin when water flows through it.

Generator – A device that turns motion into electricity.

Hydroelectric – Electricity made by using moving water.

Renewable Energy – Energy that comes from natural sources like water or sunlight that can be reused or replenished quickly.

Pumped Storage – A way to store energy by moving water between two places and using it when needed.

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