Duke Energy completes Bad Creek facility upgrade to support Carolina's growing demand

April 29 (Reuters) - Electric utility Duke Energy said on Monday it completed upgrades at the Bad Creek pumped storage facility in South Carolina, that in totality adds 320 megawatts of carbon-free energy to the company’s system to meet growing regional demand.

This brings the total capacity of the station to 1,680 megawatts, which can power more than 1.3 million homes, the company said in a press release.

Pumped storage hydro plants store and generate energy by moving water between two reservoirs at different elevations.

"Pumped storage technology gives operational flexibility, allowing to store energy and then deploy that energy when customer demand is highest," the company's executive vice president and chief generation officer Preston Gillespie said.

The company said it is currently working to extend the license of the Bad Creek pumped hydro storage facility, which is set to expire in 2027, while also evaluating the potential to add a second powerhouse at Bad Creek, which if pursued could be in service as earlier as 2034. (Reporting by Harshit Verma in Bengaluru)