January 14, 2026
Duke Energy’s coal-fired power plant in Allen is now home to a pair of battery energy storage systems (BESS) that will serve customers in North and South Carolina.
The utility brought its first system online in November, a 50 MW, four-hour facility located on Lake Wylie in Gaston County, NC, which cost approximately $100 million and was completed on budget and ahead of schedule. The final tests will be completed this month.
Construction of a second BESS, a 167 MW, four-hour system – Duke’s largest – will begin in May on 10 acres where the coal plant’s now-demolished emissions control system once stood.
Both lithium-ion battery systems are eligible for federal investment tax credits, which will offset 40% of the costs for Duke Energy customers. That figure includes an additional 10% for reinvestment in an energy community. The coal-fired power plant was retired in December 2024.
“We are building new resources to keep the Carolinas economy thriving while reinvesting in a former coal-fired power plant community that helped power this region for decades,” said Kendal Bowman, president of Duke Energy in North Carolina. “Repurposing existing energy infrastructure and taking advantage of federal funding significantly offset costs for our customers while continuing to support rapid growth in the region.”
Duke’s BESS Investments
Large-scale battery systems are especially useful for cold winter mornings before the sun rises, filling the gap before solar energy can be generated. During periods of low demand, they can also store excess energy – such as the energy generated by the Catawba Nuclear Station across Lake Wylie – for use during periods of high demand.
Duke Energy plans to make similar battery storage investments in multiple counties in the Carolinas. The company is 2025 Carolina’s Resource Plannow under review by state agencies, predicts 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 space to power more than 5 million homes during times of peak energy consumption.
Duke Energy’s long-term plan maintains a diverse energy mix, adding solar, storage, nuclear and natural gas generation to meet electricity demand that is increasing at an unprecedented pace. In the Carolinas, customer energy needs are expected to grow eight times faster over the next fifteen years than the previous fifteen years.
Decommissioning coal-fired power stations
The plan also maintains Gaston County’s legacy of supporting the company’s customers in both states. Duke Energy’s plans call for battery storage at both of the county’s former coal-fired power plants 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 and enter service in late 2027.
“We are proud of the way this location and its people continue to support our customers,” said Bryan Walsh, Duke Energy vice president of regulated renewable energy and lake services. “Several former Allen plant employees now work on our Regulated Renewables team, which maintains and operates the new batteries in Allen and elsewhere in the Carolinas. Duke Energy’s testing site for new battery technologies, the Emerging Technology and Innovation Center, is also located in Mount Holly.”
As part of the company rate review now before the North Carolina Utilities CommissionDuke Energy has proposed a third BESS in Allen to come online in late 2028, as well as a regional operations, training and warehouse facility for batteries and renewables that could employ 20 to 50 employees. Plans for both are still in development and must be approved by the regulator.
Tags: batteries, BESS, Duke Energy, energy storage, North Carolina, South Carolina, utility scale
