Duke Energy has announced plans to invest around $500m in solar power expansion in the US state of North Carolina.
The investment will be used to acquire and construct three solar facilities, which will have an accumulated capacity of around 128MW.
The solar facilities include 65MW Warsaw Solar Facility in Duplin County, 40MW Elm City Solar Facility, Wilson County, and 23MW Fayetteville Solar Facility, Bladen County, near Cumberland County line.
These projects are scheduled to become operational by the end of 2015.
Duke Energy will also purchase 150MW of clean energy generated from five other solar projects in the state, under power-purchase agreements.
The company’s latest investment in solar power projects will enable Duke Energy further its commitment to renewable energy, diversify its energy portfolio and meet North Carolina’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataDuke Energy Distributed Energy Resources senior vice president Rob Caldwell said: "This is Duke Energy’s largest single announcement for solar power and represents a 60 percent increase in the amount of solar power for our North Carolina customers.
"We are bringing large amounts of renewable energy onto our system in the most cost-effective way possible."
In addition to the five power-purchase agreements, Duke Energy has signed 33 other agreements in North Carolina for projects totaling 109MW of capacity.
