By Editors of Power Engineering

Duke Energy latest SEC filing indicates construction on the company’s Western Carolinas Modernization Plan will begin in early 2017.

The plan involves the construction of two 280-MW combined-cycle natural gas plants with dual fuel capacity, with the option to build a third in 2023 based on the outcome of initiatives to reduce the region’s power demand.

These new units will replace the existing Asheville coal-fired plant.

Other details of the plan, which were revised last year, include upgrades to existing transmission lines and substations, solar generation and a battery storage project, all of which will be implemented over the next seven years.

The overall cost of the modernization plan remains unchanged at $1.1 billion.

Site preparation for the gas plants has already begun, and the plants are expected to enter service by late 2019.