Following a multi-year process that included public input and participation, the Tennessee Valley Authority has selected the option to construct and operate a simple cycle, frame combustion turbine facility at the New Caledonia site in Lowndes County, Mississippi.
When complete, the new facility’s six units will add approximately 500 megawatts to the grid.
TVA has signed the Record of Decision for the construction and operation of a simple cycle combustion turbine plant on a parcel of TVA-owned land known as the New Caledonia (NCG) Site.
TVA is announcing this decision after a thorough environmental review and stakeholder engagement process, it noted.
The Final Environmental Impact Statement was released on TVA’s website on January 6, 2025, and is expected to be published in the Federal Register by February 28, 2025. For more information, read the Record of Decision and other related documents found at tva.com/nepa.
The NCG Site is located in Lowndes County, Mississippi, approximately 10 miles northeast of Columbus.
The site has been vacant since 2007, when a private company dismantled their CT facility located on the property. With this decision, TVA will bring new power generation to the area and utilize existing natural gas and transmission infrastructure at the 145-acre site, including the adjacent substation property, which remains in operation.
“TVA is taking a holistic approach to our generation portfolio to ensure that we are doing our part to drive economic development and to make Mississippi the best place to live, work and raise a family,” said Amy Tate, Southwest Region executive. “We are adding the New Caledonia site to our portfolio to enable ongoing and future growth, focusing on more efficient energy generation while maintaining low rates and reliable power for people we are privileged to serve.”
“Lowndes County is excited about the New Caledonia combustion turbine plant project and the continued commitment demonstrated by TVA to increase capability and additional capacity to their footprint,” said Trip Hairston, President, Lowndes County Board of Supervisors. “Additionally, this project will continue to benefit the ever-increasing economic development and recruitment efforts in the Golden Triangle.”
CTs are needed to provide dispatchable generation capacity to ensure that TVA can reliably meet required year-round generation, maximum capacity system demands and planning reserve margin targets and comply with the requirement under the TVA Act that power be sold at rates as low as feasible.
Additionally, CTs enable more renewables to be brought on to the system without compromising reliability, it noted.
