Kentucky Dam, the largest dam in the Tennessee Valley Authority river system, recently celebrated 80 years of providing clean, reliable energy to the Tennessee Valley region.
Called “ TVA’s Mightiest Dam” at its Summer 1944 opening with President Harry Truman in attendance, Kentucky Dam is 206 feet high and 8,422 feet long. The hydroelectric plant has five operating units that can produce approximately 225 megawatts—enough to power about 220,000 homes.
“This is original technology,” said KT Duffy, the plant manager at Kentucky Dam. “We have upgraded some of our control systems to maintain and operate the turbine speed and megawatt output, but as far as the design, it’s still the natural design from 80 years ago.”
Hydropower combines two of TVA’s greatest priorities—clean and reliable energy.
“It is still very reliable,” Duffy continued. “It’s a true renewable energy source. It’s water, completely natural and renewable, there’s no outside source of fuel other than water.”
Hydroelectric power is the cleanest, most reliable, most efficient, and most economical of all renewable energy sources. Approximately 9% of TVA’s power generation comes from 29 power-generating dams throughout the Tennessee River system.
Kentucky Dam also helps reduce flood damage on six million acres of the lower Ohio and Mississippi rivers and reduces the frequency of flooding on another 4 million acres.
Retirees with TVA’s Bicentennial Volunteers, Inc. staff the Kentucky Dam Visitor’s Center, which welcomed about 30,000 guests in 2023. The visitor’s center is open from the first weekend of April to the last Sunday in October from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.