Duke Energy passes milestone surpassing 1 GW of solar energy production

With the opening of the North Rosamond Solar Facility in California in June, Duke Energy passed a milestone with one-gigawatt (GW) of solar energy-producing facilities nationwide.

Duke Energy now owns solar facilities in 10 states at almost 70 different sites.

“For nearly a decade, Duke Energy has been delivering affordable solar power to our customers. This provides significant economic benefits to our communities while generating no environmental emissions,” Rob Caldwell, senior vice president and president of Duke Energy Renewables & Business Development, said.

Also, Duke Energy is one of the largest purchasers of solar power in the nation, purchasing the output from more than 3 GW of capacity in states where it serves retail customers. The 4 GW of owned and purchased renewables makes up more than 9 percent of Duke Energy’s generated electricity.

Most of the facilities are in Duke’s home state of North Carolina, where Duke owns 40 solar facilities, including the 80-megawatt (MW) Conetoe Solar Facility in Edgecombe County, the 65-MW Warsaw Solar Facility in Duplin County and the 60-MW Monroe Solar Facility in Union County. The company has plans to develop and own more major projects in the state.

Second to North Carolina, California is Duke Energy’s second-largest solar state, with 12 sites and more than 340 MW of capacity.

Further, Duke Energy has over 100 MW of solar generation in operation in Florida with four more solar plants targeted for operation by the end of March 2020.

“Our future shows even more solar being built and operated by Duke Energy,” Caldwell said. “One GW is a notable milestone, but we have plans for much more.”