Project Overview

Cliffside Steam Station located on the Rutherford/Cleveland County line in North Carolina.

On March 13, 2009, Duke Energy received a final revised air permit for the new, state-of-the-art Cliffside Unit 6 from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Air Quality. The permit designates that the unit is a minor source of hazardous air pollutants.

This designation confirms Cliffside Unit 6 will have among the strictest, most effective air emission controls available to protect public health and the environment. The Cliffside Steam Station is located on the Rutherford/Cleveland County line in North Carolina.

Construction began on January 30, 2008, and is on schedule for completion in 2012. 

Once Cliffside Unit 6 comes on line in 2012, and units 1-4 are retired, the facility will generate more than double the electricity available for customers than the current units, with significantly lower emissions. Duke has committed to retiring 800 additional megawatts of older coal-fired generation, making Unit 6 carbon neutral by 2018.

The project ensures Duke Energy will continue to meet our customers’ need for clean, affordable and reliable electricity in the future.

Cliffside Unit 6

  • 825-megawatt advanced clean-coal unit
  • 4-year construction period
  • $1.8 billion estimated cost for construction
  • 1,600 new construction jobs
  • $100 million annual construction payroll
  • 20-30 permanent jobs
  • $125 million in federal clean-coal tax credits to benefit customers

Cleaner Air

  • An innovative arrangement of proven air emission control systems will remove 99 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions, 90 percent of nitrogen oxide emissions and 90 percent of mercury.
  • Total plant mercury emissions will be cut by 50 percent.
  • Duke Energy will retire Cliffside units 1-4 (200 megawatts) before the new unit comes on line.
  • Retirement of additional 800 megawatts of older, less efficient coal-fired generation will make Cliffside Unit 6 carbon neutral by 2018.

Environmental Benefits

  • Cooling towers on Cliffside Unit 6 will require less withdrawal from Broad River and will significantly minimize thermal impacts to the river.
  • To the extent possible, the new unit is being built to accommodate the installation and operation of future carbon control technologies.
  • The wet scrubber will generate, as a by-product, wall board quality gypsum for the building industry.