U.S. utility Duke Energy announced that it has officially confirmed a 2028 construction start date for two 1,360MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) plants to be built in Davie County and its largest-ever Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) storage facility to be built in Davidson County, North Carolina. The announcement was made on September 11, following up on a site selection announcement made in July.
The power plants will be built in Davie County, while the LNG storage facility will be built across the Yadkin River in Davidson County. The CCGT plants, totaling 2,720MW (two units of 1,360MW each), are new generation facilities aimed at meeting rising electricity demand in the North Carolina region, while the accompanying LNG storage facility is designed to support the reliability of fuel supply for the power plants.
The CCGT plants comprise two 1,360MW units totaling 2,720MW, and the LNG storage facility is reported to be the largest in Duke Energy’s history. Infrastructure investment in the billions of dollars is expected at each county site, with a construction start target of 2028.
North Carolina is a region where electricity demand is rapidly rising amid expanding data center and manufacturing investment, and Duke Energy is pursuing a strategy of combining the new CCGT plants with an LNG storage facility to simultaneously secure the reliability of its power generation fuel supply chain.
In the southeastern United States, the pace of electricity demand growth driven by concentrated data center and advanced manufacturing investment continues to outpace existing utilities’ generation capacity expansion plans, and major utilities including Duke Energy have been successively announcing large-scale CCGT construction plans. Developing a power plant and an LNG storage facility as a combined set may become a new standard among utilities seeking to secure their own fuel reserve capability against the risk of gas supply disruptions, which is expected to generate new demand for related LNG storage tank and vaporization equipment suppliers. However, the somewhat extended construction start target of 2028 appears to reflect several variables including the gas turbine supply shortage and permitting procedures, suggesting that a considerable amount of time will be needed before actual commercial operation begins.
A primary point to watch is whether the 2028 construction start target will be met as planned, and when the selection of gas turbine manufacturers and the signing of supply contracts will be disclosed. Whether additional details on the LNG storage facility’s specific storage capacity and supply source (including whether it will be pipeline-connected) will be announced is also of interest. In addition, the progress of permitting procedures with the North Carolina state government, and whether Duke Energy will announce further similar combined power plant and LNG storage projects in other regions, need to be confirmed.