Duke Energy Carolinas to build 750MW natural gas plant in South Carolina

Duke Energy Carolinas will build and operate a natural gas-fired combined cycle plant in South Carolina, US.

The 750MW power plant will be built at the existing Lee Steam Station site in Anderson County.

The North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation will own 100MW of the project.

Recently, the Public Service Commission of South Carolina approved the plant and the company has now decided to move ahead with construction activities.

The decision to move forward with this project is part of a comprehensive, long-term plan to add new generation, modernise the fleet, maintain a diverse fuel portfolio and manage customer costs while delivering a high-quality, reliable power supply.

Duke Energy South Carolina state president Clark Gillespy said that natural gas-fired combined cycle plants are a good match to meet the significant energy needs of the company's customers over the next 15 years, and are expected to be an important part of the future Duke Energy Carolinas generation portfolio.

"They are very efficient in the production of electricity using natural gas as fuel and have very low plant emissions, Gillespy said.

Construction is expected to begin in 2015 and will come online in November 2017. Currently, the company is in the process of procuring equipment.

"The Lee site is a great location for a combined cycle plant. Duke Energy will be able to leverage existing site infrastructure to minimise new generation project costs and impacts to the community and environment," Gillespy added.

The project will create around 500 jobs during the construction period, with approximately 25 full-time employees to operate the plant once it is online.

Anderson County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn said: "Anderson County has a long, successful history with Duke Energy. Today we celebrate Duke Energy's latest investment in our community, which will bring quality jobs for our residents. We are grateful to Duke Energy's leadership for choosing our county for this project and for continually shaping the future of the Upstate."