Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) will purchase the entire electricity output of the nation’s largest photovoltaic solar farm to be built in Davidson County, N.C.
Under 20-year agreements signed with solar developer SunEdison, customers of Duke Energy Carolinas are expected to receive more than 16 megawatts (MW) of power from the solar farm beginning no later than Dec. 31, 2010.
"We said we wanted to lead the way in the development of more renewable energy and we meant it," said Keith Trent, group executive and chief strategy, policy and regulatory officer for Duke Energy. "Today’s agreements, coupled with the other significant initiatives across our company, clearly demonstrate that renewable energy has an important place in our power generation portfolio."
The SunEdison agreements are a result of a request for proposals, or RFP, that Duke Energy issued in April 2007. It was the first RFP of its kind in North Carolina and was specifically designed for potential renewable providers.
The PV solar farm will consist of 36 individual solar PV structures, located at a single site. Construction is anticipated to start early 3rd Quarter, 2009.
In addition to purchasing renewable energy from other providers, Duke Energy is advancing plans for its own distributed solar generation program. Distributed generation is energy created close to where it is used, rather than being produced in large power plants and sent to customers over the power grid. Under the plan, Duke Energy would install and operate distributed solar generation on customer rooftops and other spaces.
Duke Energy is also adding wind power to its generation portfolio. In April 2008, a wind farm in Indiana began supplying 100 MW of power to Duke Energy customers. In 2007, Duke Energy Generation Services entered the wind energy business and expects to have its first projects (about 180 megawatts) online later this year. Other wind development projects of more than 3,000 MW are planned in eight different western and southwestern states.
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