Coal will no longer be the cornerstone of power production in Asheville when Duke Energy completes a newly announced $1.1 billion plan to retire its coal-fired power plant and construct a natural gas plant and solar farm in its place. 

The switchover, planned to be mostly complete by the end of 2019, will increase the plant’s capacity from 376 to 650 megawatts — important given that Duke Energy Progress’s Asheville service area has doubled over the last four decades, forcing the company to import about 400 megawatts of power during peak demand.  

Despite the increased production, pollution is expected to decrease. Mercury output will be eliminated, sulfur dioxide will decrease 90 to 95 percent, water withdrawal by 97 percent, water discharge by 50 percent and nitrogen oxide by 35 percent. Carbon dioxide emissions will decrease by about 60 percent per-megawatt-hour. 

The new station will also be cheaper to run, costing about 35 percent less based on today’s natural gas prices. 

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is applauding the move.

“Ceasing to burn coal at this plant, in combination with the planned cleanup of the plant’s coal ash storage ponds under the Coal Ash Management Act of 2014, will dramatically lower the risks this plant’s toxic coal ash poses to the river and reduce air pollution,” said Stephen A. Smith, the organization’s executive director. 

However, Smith pointed out, Duke has not specified the size of the solar farm to be installed. He encourages them to invest in something substantial. 

“We remain hopeful it will be a truly substantial investment in solar,” he said. “As other utilities have demonstrated, solar power can be effectively used to reduce the amount of natural gas burned during daylight hours.”