Duke Energy is expanding its battery storage capabilities in North Carolina and has begun commercial operation of an 11 MW project in Onslow County.
The battery system will frequently be operated in conjunction with an adjacent 13 MW solar facility located on a leased site within Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune, which has been generating energy since 2015. The two sites can also be operated independently.
Both projects are connected to a Duke Energy substation and will be used to serve all Duke Energy Progress customers. Future work could enable the solar and battery systems to improve the resiliency of MCB Camp Lejeune against outages.
“Integration of the solar plant with a battery energy storage system, unthinkable a decade ago, presents the installation with a number of opportunities to achieve energy resilience objectives,” says U.S. Navy Commander Ross Campbell, director, public works at MCB Camp Lejeune. “These systems are part of the ongoing collaboration with the Department of Defense and its utility providers to ensure energy security at federal facilities.”
The battery’s chemistry is lithium iron phosphate with the system rated at 11-MW/11-MWh, and its physical footprint is about 1 acre. Duke Energy partnered with Black and Veatch construction entity OCI, which acted as the prime contractor for engineering, procurement and construction.
