Duke Energy has proposed building new nuclear reactors at its Belews Creek coal and natural-gas fired station in North Carolina and a second site still to be determined.
It’s part of a newly-filed update to Duke’s 2022 integrated resource plan as the utility aims to comply with North Carolina’s emission mandates. That 2021 law requires utilities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 70% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels. The law also calls for net-zero emissions by 2050.
In the updated filings, Duke offered three scenarios that would get the company to 70% by 2030, 2033 or 2035.
The utility prefers the 2035 timeline. By that year Duke is proposing to add 600 MW of capacity from two small modular reactor sites, with both sites being the same reactor technology.
“Advanced nuclear will provide significant operational flexibility that will be needed to support increased deployment of renewable energy resources,” said the utility in its latest filings.
In a timeline prepared in filings to regulators, the utility said it plans to choose an SMR technology for the Belews Creek site between 2023 and 2025. Duke plans to apply for an early site permit from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in mid-2025.
The projected in-service date for the Belews Creek SMR would be the first quarter of 2034, with the SMR at the second site coming online in the first quarter of 2035.
Duke plans to end coal-fired power generation at Belews Creek by 2036. The 2,200 MW, two-unit coal and natural gas plant is located on Belews Lake in Stokes County, North Carolina. In 2020 and 2021, natural gas was added to the station to allow up to 50% natural gas co-firing on both units.
Duke’s recommended 2035 portfolio also includes a “near-term action plan” that would build up additional solar and wind generation and provide more electricity storage in batteries by the early 2030s.
While Belews Creek would be retrofitted for new nuclear, Duke’s Roxboro and Marshall coal-fired plants would shift to natural gas. Duke says those combustion turbine plants would be able to blend hydrogen for electricity.
Duke Energy said it is also in the process of seeking 20-year license extensions for the 11 existing nuclear units operating at six plants in the Carolinas.
