Duke Energy Gets Approval For Solar Plus Storage Microgrid Project

The project is part of Duke Energy’s plan to meet power demand by balancing public input, environmental impacts and the need to provide customers with safe, reliable and affordable energy.

Duke Energy, an electric power holding company based in Charlotte, North Carolina has announced that it has received approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission to develop an innovative microgrid project in Madison County.

In the town of Hot Springs, the company will proceed with a solar and battery-powered microgrid system that will help improve electric reliability, provide services to the overall electric system and serve as a backup power supply to the town of more than 500 residents.

“Duke Energy’s research work on microgrids has led to a large-scale effort that will better serve, not only these customers in a remote area, but also help us gain experience from this pilot project to better serve all customers with additional distributed energy and energy storage technologies,” said Dr. Zak Kuznar, Duke Energy’s MD of Microgrid and Energy Storage Development. “Projects like this will lead to a smarter energy future for the Carolinas.”

The Hot Springs microgrid will consist of a 2-megawatt (AC) solar facility and a 4-megawatt lithium-based battery storage facility. The microgrid will not only provide a safe, cost-effective and reliable grid solution for serving the Hot Springs area but will also provide energy and additional bulk system benefits for all customers. This will include reliability services to the electric grid, such as frequency and voltage regulation and ramping support and capacity during system peaks.

The project is part of the company’s plan to meet power demand by balancing public input, environmental impacts and the need to provide customers with safe, reliable and affordable energy.

Another component of that plan is in the city of Asheville where Duke Energy will connect a 9-megawatt lithium-ion battery system at a Duke Energy substation site in the Rock Hill community – near Sweeten Creek Road. The battery will primarily be used to help the electric system operate more efficiently and reliably for customers. Together, the two projects will cost around $30 million and are expected to be operational in early 2020.