Duke Energy has brought on line a 50 MW/200 MWh battery energy storage system at its former Allen coal plant on Lake Wylie, North Carolina, and has unveiled plans for additional battery storage at the Gaston County site The first BESS, at a cost of $100 million, was completed under budget and ahead of schedule, serving customers beginning operations in in November. Final testing is being completed during January. Construction of a second BESS – Duke Energy’s largest, a 167‑MW, four-hour system – will begin in May on a 10 acre site where the coal plant’s now-demolished emissions control system once stood.
Both of the lithium-ion installations qualify for federal investment tax credits, which will offset 40% of the cost for Duke customers. That figure includes an extra 10% for reinvesting into an energy community; the coal plant retired in December 2024.
“We are building new resources to keep the Carolinas’ economy thriving, while reinvesting in a former coal plant community that helped power this region for decades,” said Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy’s North Carolina president.
“Repurposing existing energy infrastructure and taking advantage of federal funding significantly offset costs for our customers.”
Duke Energy plans to make similar battery storage investments in multiple counties across the Carolinas. Under the company’s 2025 Carolina’s Resource Plan, now under review. Across the Carolinas, customer energy needs over the next 15 years are expected to grow at eight times the growth rate of the prior 15 years.
