Cowans Ford
Hydro power plant · Lincoln County, North Carolina
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC
- County
- Lincoln County
- Generating units
- 4
- Share of state capacity
- 0.87%
- Rank among hydro plants in North Carolina
- #1 of 38
- EIA plant code
- 2722
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 88 MW | 81 MW | 1963 | Operating |
| 2 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 88 MW | 81 MW | 1963 | Operating |
| 3 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 88 MW | 81 MW | 1963 | Operating |
| 4 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 88 MW | 81 MW | 1967 | Operating |
Nameplate is the maximum rated output; summer capacity is what the unit can reliably deliver on a hot day, which is typically lower.
Similarly sized plants in North Carolina
| Dan River | Natural gas | 698 MW |
| Kings Mountain Energy Center | Natural gas | 544 MW |
| Anson County Generation Facility | Natural gas | 344 MW |
| Hamlet Generating Facility | Natural gas | 344 MW |
About this data
From EIA’s inventory of operable generators, May 2026 release. Capacity is nameplate — the maximum rated output of the equipment, not what the plant actually generates over a year, which depends on how often it runs. A 350 MW solar plant and a 350 MW nuclear plant have the same entry here and produce very different amounts of electricity.
“In service since” is the earliest in-service date among the units still listed, so a site rebuilt around newer equipment can read as younger than the site itself. All North Carolina power plants · What North Carolina actually generates