Duke Energy has announced a number of partner companies it will use to build three previously announced solar projects in North Carolina by the end of 2015.
The company will construct and own some of the largest solar facilities on the East Coast, totaling 128 megawatts (MW) of capacity. These projects are part of the company’s recently announced $500 million commitment to solar.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2015. When underway, up to 750 local construction jobs will be created. Before construction, the projects must obtain approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC).
“In addition to helping our local economies, the projects will benefit customers by having experienced solar companies involved,” said Rob Caldwell, senior vice president, Distributed Energy Resources. “This furthers Duke Energy’s commitment to the communities we serve while meeting our goal of bringing large amounts of cost-effective renewable energy onto our system.”
Duke Energy projects
- At the 65MW Warsaw Solar Facility in Duplin County, Chapel Hill-based Strata Solar will serve as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. The project will use solar panels manufactured by Arizona-based First Solar, and the solar inverters will be manufactured by the German company SMA Solar Technology, with production facilities in Denver.
- At the 40MW Elm City Solar Facility in Wilson County, First Solar will supply its Series-4 thin-film solar panels and serve as the EPC contractor. SMA Solar Technology will supply the inverters.
- At the 23MW project in Bladen County, near the Cumberland County line, Arizona-based Phoenix Solar will be the project’s EPC contactor. The solar panels will be manufactured by Yingli Solar.
- At the 65MW Warsaw Solar Facility in Duplin County, Chapel Hill-based Strata Solar will serve as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. The project will use solar panels manufactured by Arizona-based First Solar, and the solar inverters will be manufactured by the German company SMA Solar Technology, with production facilities in Denver.
Duke Energy will also purchase power from five other new solar projects to be built and owned by other companies. Altogether, the eight projects total 278MW.
