Duke Energy begins operating the largest battery system in North Carolina

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Mar 30, 2023, 08:29 ET

11-MW battery will operate alongside existing solar facility
Both are located inside the site boundary of Camp Lejeune on leased land

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy is expanding its battery storage capabilities in North Carolina and has begun commercial operation of the state's largest battery system, an 11-MW project in Onslow County.

The battery system will frequently be operated in conjunction with an adjacent 13-MW solar facility located on a leased site within Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, which has been generating carbon-free energy since 2015. The two sites can also be operated independently.

"Battery storage is an important resource for our transition to cleaner energy," said Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy's North Carolina state president. "Pairing the energy storage system with our existing solar facility at Camp Lejeune helps strengthen the reliability of our energy grid and makes better use of our existing solar generation."

Together, the projects enable the most efficient and reliable use of renewable resources. Both projects are connected to a Duke Energy substation and will be used to serve all Duke Energy Progress customers. Future work could enable the solar and battery systems to improve the resiliency of MCB Camp Lejeune against outages.

"Through an enhanced use lease (EUL) and strategic partnership with Duke Energy Progress, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune has been able to make an important investment in the pursuit of energy security inside the fence-line," said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ross Campbell, director, Public Works at MCB Camp Lejeune. "Integration of the solar plant with a battery energy storage system, unthinkable a decade ago, presents the installation with a number of opportunities to achieve energy resilience objectives. These systems are part of the ongoing collaboration with the Department of Defense and its utility providers to ensure energy security at federal facilities."

The battery's chemistry is lithium iron phosphate with the system rated at 11-MW/11-MWh, and its physical footprint is about 1 acre. Duke Energy partnered with Black & Veatch construction entity OCI, which acted as the prime contractor for engineering, procurement and construction.

In recent years, Duke Energy has been expanding battery storage in North Carolina. In the city of Asheville, a 9-MW lithium-ion battery system is operating next to a Duke Energy substation in the Shiloh community. In Madison County in the town of Hot Springs, the company has a 4-MW lithium-ion battery system that is part of a microgrid in the town.

Battery storage is essential to speed the clean energy transition in the United States. It helps maximize the positive impact intermittent generation sources like wind and solar have on the energy grid.

The company plans to continue investing in battery technology over the next few years. Duke Energy expects to have more than 1,600 MW of battery storage in service by 2029. Currently, the company's regulated utilities have about 90 MW of battery energy storage projects in operation in three states.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 27,600 people.

Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company has interim carbon emission targets of at least 50% reduction from electric generation by 2030, 50% for Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 upstream and downstream emissions by 2035, and 80% from electric generation by 2040. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2023 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' "World's Best Employers" list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

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SOURCE Duke Energy