Duke Energy has brought on line a 50-megawatt, four-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) at its former Allen coal plant on Lake Wylie, serving customers in North Carolina and South Carolina, and has unveiled plans for additional battery storage and new jobs at the Gaston County site.
What’s happening: The first BESS, at a cost of approximately $100 million, was completed under budget and ahead of schedule, serving customers beginning in November. Final testing is being completed this month. Construction of a second BESS – Duke Energy’s largest, a 167-MW, four-hour system – will begin in May on 10 acres where the coal plant’s now-demolished emissions control system once stood.
Both lithium-ion battery systems qualify for federal investment tax credits, which will offset 40% of the cost for Duke Energy customers. That figure includes an extra 10% for reinvesting into an energy community; the coal plant retired in December 2024.
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Download free sample pages More informationOur view: “We’re 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 while continuing to support rapid growth across the region.”
Why it matters: Utility-scale battery systems are particularly useful for cold winter mornings before the sun comes up, filling the gap before solar generation is available. During low-demand periods, they can also store excess energy – such as the clean power generated by Catawba Nuclear Station just across Lake Wylie – for use during high-demand periods.
Duke Energy plans to make similar battery storage investments in multiple counties across the Carolinas. The company’s 2025 Carolinas Resource Plan, now under review by state regulators, projects the addition of 6,550 MW of batteries by 2035 to protect reliability and meet growth needs in North Carolina and South Carolina. That’s enough storage to power more than 5 million homes during times of peak energy use.
The big picture: Duke Energy’s long-term plan maintains a diverse energy mix, adding solar, storage, nuclear and natural gas generation to meet electricity demand that’s rising at an unprecedented pace. 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.
Coming full circle: The plan also maintains Gaston County’s legacy of supporting the company’s customers across both states. Duke Energy’s plans call for battery storage at both of the county’s retired coal plant sites along the Catawba River, Allen (1957-2024 in Belmont) and Riverbend (1929-2013 in Mount Holly). Construction of the latter, a 115-MW, four-hour BESS, is expected to begin in late 2026, coming on line in late 2027.
“We are proud of how this site and its people continue to support our customers,” said Bryan Walsh, Duke Energy’s vice president of Regulated Renewables and Lake Services. “Multiple former Allen plant employees now work on our Regulated Renewables team, which maintains and operates the new batteries at Allen and elsewhere in the Carolinas. Duke Energy’s test site for new battery technologies, its Emerging Technology and Innovation Center, is also in Mount Holly.”
