Progress Energy Carolinas (PEC), a subsidiary of Duke Energy, officially closed the Lee power plant near Goldsboro, North Carolina, on 15 September 2012. The coal-fired power plant consists of three units ; two of which are rated 75 MW and one is rated 246 MW. The site’s four oil-fueled combustion turbine units, with a total capacity of 75 MW, will be retired on 1 October 2012.
PEC retired its coal-fired W.H. Weatherspoon power plant near Lumberton, N.C. on 1 October 2011, the first retirement under the utility’s fleet-modernization plan. Other plants slated for retirement include the Cape Fear Plant near Moncure, N.C. (1 October 2012), the Robinson coal-fired unit near Hartsville, S.C. (1 October 2012) and the L.V. Sutton Plant near Wilmington, N.C. (late 2013). Once the retirements are complete, the utility will have retired all of its coal-fired units that do not have advanced environmental controls. The utility’s coal-fired unit retirements represent more than 1,600 MW, or approximately one-third of its coal-generating fleet. The utility will replace the retiring coal-fueled generating capacity with combined-cycle plants fueled by natural gas.
In addition to retiring older, small coal plants, the utility’s fleet-modernization strategy also includes building new CCGT units on property between the Lee Plant and the Wayne County Energy Complex. The new, 920 MW CCGT facility and corresponding natural gas pipeline extension is expected to begin commercial operation in early 2013. This state-of-the-art facility, along with the five dual-fueled combustion turbines at the existing Wayne County Energy Complex, will be called the H.F. Lee Energy Complex when the project is completed. Total generation capacity of the site will approach 1,800 MW. In addition to the new Lee facility, the utility is building a 625 MW facility at its Sutton site. Commercial operation, including a corresponding natural gas pipeline extension, is expected at the end of 2013. The utility also added 584 MW of natural gas-fueled generation at its Sherwood H. Smith Jr. Energy Complex near Hamlet, N.C., in June 2011.
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