The USA’s Duke Energy will invest half a billion dollars on a massive solar power expansion in the country’s sunny South-East, building three new solar plants and signing purchase agreements for a further five projects.
The company announced North Carolina will be the recipient of a $500 million commitment in solar investment after a request for proposals (RFP) tender which began in February this year.
The investment will allow the company to acquire and construct three new solar photovoltaic plants in the state, totalling 128 MW of capacity. The company will also buy electricity through power purchase agreements (PPAs) from five other new solar projects with a combined capacity of 150 MW.
North Carolina has become a booming solar state, with more than half of its 627 MW solar capacity installed last year. According to North Carolina’s Sustainable Energy Association, up to 20,000 people are employed in the clean energy sector across the state. Duke’s solar expansion is expected to help NC meet its mandated Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS) goal of 12.5 per cent of electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020.
Only solar plants capable of generating over five megawatts were considered during the company’s RFP process.
“This is Duke Energy’s largest single announcement for solar power and represents a 60 per cent increase in the amount of solar power for our North Carolina customers,” said Rob Caldwell, senior vice president, Distributed Energy Resources. “We are bringing large amounts of renewable energy onto our system in the most cost-effective way possible.”
The plan includes the construction of the biggest solar PV facility on the USA’s east coast. The 65 MW Warsaw Solar Facility in Duplin County will be built by local company Strata Solar for Duke and will complement the 40 MW Elm City Solar Facility, Wilson County (developed by HelioSage Energy), along with the 23 MW Fayetteville Solar Facility, Bladen County, near Cumberland County line (developed by Tangent Energy Solutions).
Duke has signed PPAs with these new solar farms:
48 MW – Bladen County (developed by Innovative Solar Systems)
48 MW – Richmond County (developed by FLS Energy)
20 MW – Scotland County (developed by Birdseye Renewable Energy)
19 MW – Cleveland County (developed by Birdseye Renewable Energy)
15 MW – Beaufort County (developed by Element Power US)
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