Raccoon Mountain Pumped-Storage Plant

The Raccoon Mountain pumped storage plant is a pump storage power plant with an underground power station cavern in Marion County west of Chattanooga in the U.S. state of Tennessee.

The plant belongs to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA ) and is operated from her. Construction began in 1970 and was finished in 1978.

The water is pumped during off-peak times from Nickajack Lake on the Tennessee River at the foot of the Raccoon Mountains to a reservoir at the summit of the mountain. This upper basin covers an area of ​​214 ha, and is enclosed by a dam, which is 70 m high and 1769 m long - the largest rock -fill dam, the TVA has ever built. The usable height difference between the upper and lower basin is approximately 301.70 m (990 feet). It takes 28 hours to fill the upper reservoir. During peak load periods, the water is fed from the upper reservoir through a pressure tunnel which was drilled through the mountain in the middle, down to the four pump-turbine sets, which drive the generators, which are in an underground power station hall. The hydroelectric power plant has an electrical capacity of 1600 MW and can run up to 22 hours. The plant will be used almost every day and serves as an important power balance in the TVA power system.

Leisure

The decor is a popular resort for hiking, walking, running and road and off-road cycling.