Duke Energy announces record-breaking amount of nuclear generation in 2016

Duke Energy recently announced that its 11 Carolina nuclear plants produced nearly 90 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2016.

“Much of our success this past year was based on enhancements in outage planning and execution, along with our ongoing commitment and focus on continuous improvement,” Bill Pitesa, Duke Energy chief nuclear officer, said. “The lower costs of
nuclear fuel, coupled with shorter refueling outages, continue to be a major factor in keeping our customers’ costs down.”

The plants produced two kilowatt-hours more than they did in 2015. The 11 plants also attained a collective capacity factor of 95.72, which is a new record for the fleet.

McGuire Nuclear Station’s two units, Catawba Nuclear Station unit one, the two-unit Brunswick Nuclear Plant and Oconee Nuclear Station unit two all reach 12-month generation records in 2016. Brunswick Nuclear Plant and Oconee Nuclear Station units one and three achieved their shortest refueling outages to date. Catawba unit two had its longest ever continuous operating run.

“Our nuclear employees continue to show their commitment to our customers by ensuring our nuclear stations operate reliably year-round to deliver clean electricity to power the Carolinas,” Pitesa said. “Our team is proud of these 2016 accomplishments and continues to focus on finding additional enhancement opportunities to better serve our customers.”