Duke Energy announces major solar additions in Florida and the Carolinas

Duke Energy has announced two major solar investments: $1 billion to construct or acquire a total of 700 MW of solar power facilities through 2022 in Florida and 10 solar projects green-lit to be built in the Carolinas under the company’s Competitive Procurement for Renewable Energy (CPRE) program.

Florida

Outside of project acquisitions in Florida, the company also gave updates on its ongoing projects in the Sunshine State, with a specific focus on projects that will either begin their construction or reach commercial operation in 2021.

Since the beginning of 2021, Duke Energy Florida has broken ground on two projects that the utility expects will go online by the end of the year: the 74.5 MW Duette Solar Power Plant and the 74.9 MW Charlie Creek Solar Power Plant.

The Duette Solar Power Plant is set to be located on 520 acres in Manatee County and will consist of 227,000 single-axis tracking solar panels, while the Charlie Creek Solar Power Plant will sit on 610 acres in Hardee County and consist of approximately 235,000 single-axis tracking solar panels.

Other projects set to be completed within the first half of the year are the Twin Rivers Solar Power Plant, a 74.9 MW facility located on 460 acres in Hamilton County, and the Santa Fe Solar Power Plant, a 74.9 MW plant located on approximately 600 acres in Columbia County. 

And while it won’t be completed until spring 2022, Duke is also breaking ground on a 74.9 MW installation located on 625 acres in Bay County, the Sandy Creek Solar Power Plant. 

According to Duke, each solar project creates approximately 200 to 300 temporary jobs during construction.

Carolinas

Duke Energy has signed power purchase agreements with 11 solar projects under the company’s CPRE program, during the most recent round of competitive bidding for new solar construction in the Carolinas.

In total, the 11 projects come out to 664 MW of new capacity. Ten of the projects, totaling 589 MW, will sell power to Duke Energy Carolinas, while a single 75 MW project will sell power to Duke Energy Progress. The utilities will own none of the projects.

More specifically, this is what the new capacity will look like:

• Brookcliff Solar, a 50 MW project in Cherryville, North Carolina;
• Stanly Solar, a 50 MW project in Albermarle, North Carolina;
• Hornet Solar, a 75 MW project in Stanley, North Carolina;
• Bear Branch Solar, a 35 MW project in Walnut Cove, North Carolina;
• Hunters Cove Solar, a 50 MW project in Rutherfordton, North Carolina;
• Aquadale Solar, a 50 MW project in Mooresboro, North Carolina;
• Healing Springs Solar, a 55 MW project in Denton, North Carolina;
• Wilkes Solar, a 75 MW project in Wilkesboro, North Carolina;
• Misenheimer Solar, a 74.4 MW project in Misenheimer, North Carolina;
• Marley Solar, a 75 MW project in Kinston, North Carolina; and
• JSD Flatwood PV-2, a 75 MW project in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

According to figures from the independent administrator’s report of the competitive bidding process, the 11 projects represent $680 million to $990 million in solar construction over the next few years.