Watts Bar Hydro
Hydro power plant · Rhea County, Tennessee
Nameplate capacity
175 MW
Rank in Tennessee
#16
of 106 plants
In service since
1942
March 1942
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- Tennessee Valley Authority
- County
- Rhea County
- Generating units
- 5
- Share of state capacity
- 0.74%
- Rank among hydro plants in Tennessee
- #3 of 29
- EIA plant code
- 3420
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HY1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 41 MW | 39 MW | 1942 | Operating |
| HY2 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 33 MW | 39 MW | 1942 | Operating |
| HY3 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 33 MW | 39 MW | 1942 | Operating |
| HY4 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 33 MW | 39 MW | 1944 | Operating |
| HY5 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 33 MW | 39 MW | 1944 | Operating |
Nameplate is the maximum rated output; summer capacity is what the unit can reliably deliver on a hot day, which is typically lower.
Similarly sized plants in Tennessee
| Tennessee Eastman Operations | Coal | 194 MW |
| Ridgely Energy Farm | Solar | 177 MW |
| Chickamauga | Hydro | 160 MW |
| Calderwood | Hydro | 157 MW |
About this data
From EIA’s inventory of operable generators, May 2026 release. Capacity is nameplate — the maximum rated output of the equipment, not what the plant actually generates over a year, which depends on how often it runs. A 175 MW solar plant and a 175 MW nuclear plant have the same entry here and produce very different amounts of electricity.
“In service since” is the earliest in-service date among the units still listed, so a site rebuilt around newer equipment can read as younger than the site itself. All Tennessee power plants · What Tennessee actually generates