Overview

The Avalon Hydropower Project was originally developed in the 1890s, when the dam was built to provide shaft power to a textile mill located on site. The mill building burned down in 1911, but the powerhouse and the rest of the project works remained. The project was modified to produce electricity, and operated until the 1960s. Redevelopment of the site began in the early 1990s. The Project received an FERC license in 1993, and started producing power in 1997 with Unit 1.

The current owners have owned and operated the Avalon Project as a licensed hydropower plant, exporting power to Duke Energy Carolinas, since 2002. Unit 2 was commissioned in 2004, and Unit 3 was added in 2005, completing redevelopment to the licensed capacity. The project has received ongoing capital investment and maintenance, including a modern control system installed at the main powerhouse in 2015, and bypass powerhouse in 2019.

Project Works

Project works consist of: (1) a 20-foot high, stone-masonry gravity dam; (2) a 56-foot-long stone-masonry headgate structure which is a part of the dam; (3) a reservoir with a surface area of 18.6 acres, a volume of 135 acre-feet, and a normal water surface elevation of 625.5 feet mean sea level(msl); (4) a bypass powerhouse at the dam with one Francis turbine generating unit (5) an earth bank power canal with length of about 1,800 feet, a width of 20 to 26 feet, a depth of 8 to 32 feet (6) a stone-masonry intake structure at the end of the power canal for two underground steel penstocks (7) a masonry powerhouse 24 feet wide by 70 feet long containing two Francis turbine-generator units (8) a tailrace at the main powerhouse with a length of about 500 feet and a width of about 40 ft; (9) a 12.4-kilovolt (kV) transmission line; and (10) appurtenant facilities and equipment.

Contact

Kevin Edwards
avalonhydro@pht1.com
(336) 589-6138 (no text)

Capacity & Generation

Capacity: 999 kW total

Generating Units:
Main Powerhouse
· Unit 1 – double-runner Francis (horizontal)
· Unit 2 – single-runner Francis (horizontal)
Bypass Powerhouse
· Unit 3 – single-runner Francis (vertical)

All turbines are driving a direct connect synchronous generator

Gross Head:
43 feet at main powerhouse

Average Annual Generation:
4.95 GWh (2016-2024)

Power Purchase Agreement:
Duke Energy Carolinas

Real Estate: 36.3 acres

Notes:
Sale of the Avalon and Mayo projects is contingent on both being sold.