H.F. Lee Combined Cycle Plant
- Located in Wayne County, N.C.
- Commercial operation: 2012
- Capacity: 920 megawatts (MW)
The H.F. Lee Combined Cycle Plant is the newest facility at the H.F. Lee Energy Complex. Coming online in December 2012, the 920-MW plant uses one of the most environmentally friendly forms of fossil generation available. The combined cycle design applies two sources of energy – combustion and steam turbines – to convert natural gas to electricity.
Site preparations for the plant, which included the installation of a 32-mile long, 20-inch gas pipeline, began in July 2010. The project created nearly 500 construction jobs and brought a tax base of $2.5 million to the county.
Working to comply with the N.C. Clean Smokestacks Act, which set stringent emission-reduction targets for 2013, Duke Energy retired the coal-fired H.F. Lee Steam Electric Plant in September 2012 and built the cleaner, more efficient combined-cycle plant. Emission reductions include:
- 60 percent less carbon dioxide rate
- 100 percent less mercury
- Nearly 100 percent less sulfur dioxides
- More than 95 percent less nitrogen oxides
The H.F. Lee Combined Cycle Power Block has more than twice the capacity of the retired coal plant.
History of the H.F. Lee Energy Complex
The H.F. Lee Energy Complex has a long history of serving the community. The first plant began commercial operation in 1951. Since then, the site has seen the building and retirement of three coal-fired units and four oil-fueled combustion turbines. In addition to the H.F. Lee Combined Cycle Power Block, the complex also includes the Wayne County Combustion Turbines that consists of five General Electric simple-cycle combustion turbines.
The complex is named after Harry Fitzhugh Lee, a district manager who retired from Carolina Power & Light after a 45-year career. Lee’s family was well known; he was a great-grandson of Revolutionary War officer Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee III, and a grand-nephew of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. However, H.F. Lee’s name, associates said, was synonymous with electric service in Wayne County.
In addition to the combined cycle plant, the H.F. Lee Energy Complex includes:
- Wayne County Combustion Turbines
- H.F. Lee Steam Electric Plant (retired)
- H.F. Lee Combustion Turbines (retired)
