Duke Energy Eyeing Coal Phaseout by 2035
Duke Energy, the nation’s largest power producer, will dramatically slash coal generation’s share from the current 22% of total generation to 5% by 2030 and achieve a full phaseout of unabated coal by 2035. The company instead expects to deploy more than $ 130 billion over the next decade—$ 63 billion of which it will spend over the next five years—to fund investments in grid modernization and efforts to replace its coal fleet with renewables, natural gas, and emerging technologies.
The ambitious goals, unveiled as part of an expansion of Duke Energy’s “clean energy action plan” on Feb. 9, will keep the company on track to achieve 2020-announced commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by at least 50% by 2030 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, it said. Under the plan, the company will expand its 2050 net-zero goals to include Scope 2 and specific Scope 3 emissions.
“In its electric business, the company’s net-zero goal will include greenhouse gas emissions from the power it purchases for resale, from the procurement of fossil fuels used for generation and from the electricity purchased for its own use,” the company explained.…
