Duke Energy shuts 344MW Asheville coal plant in North Carolina
FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享Asheville Citizen Times:After 56 years of burning coal at its Lake Julian power plant, Duke Energy has officially shut down the coal operation.“At 4 p.m. on Jan. 29, 2020, Duke Energy achieved a significant milestone and officially shut down the 344-megawatt Asheville coal plant in Arden, North Carolina,” Duke Energy spokeswoman Heather Danenhower said. “The coal plant reliably served customers since 1964. Some demolition work has already started and is expected to be completed in 2023.”The plan to switch over to natural gas has been in the works for years, and Duke completed the 560-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plant in late 2019. The $893 million natural gas plant was built on Duke’s nearly 700-acre campus near Lake Julian.“Duke Energy customers in both North Carolina and South Carolina are now receiving 460 megawatts of cleaner-burning, highly efficient energy from the new Asheville Combined Cycle Station,” Danenhower said. “We will add 100 more megawatts to the new natural gas power plant — for a total of 560 megawatts — when we bring the remaining steam turbine generator online in the first quarter of 2020.”Julie Mayfield, co-director of the Asheville environmental advocacy nonprofit MountainTrue, said the closure of the coal facility is cause for celebration, but natural gas, while a much cleaner fuel, also comes with some burdens.“The transition to natural gas does not address the larger concern around global carbon pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from fracking, and we recognize those are significant issues that do need to be addressed,” said Mayfield, who also is a member of Asheville City Council and a candidate for the state legislature in the 49th Senate District. “We certainly support the efforts locally, regionally, nationally and internationally to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.[John Boyle]More: Duke Energy officially retires coal units at Lake Julian Duke Energy shuts 344MW Asheville coal plant in North Carolina