Duke Energy Florida to build nearly 30 MW of capacity through three battery storage sites

In an effort to improve power reliability and quality during outages, Duke Energy Florida announced plans this week to create three battery energy storage sites throughout the state, amounting to nearly 30 MW of added capacity.

“Batteries are an exciting technology that allows us to bring more renewables onto the grid and support resiliency in our communities,” Catherine Stempien, Duke Energy Florida state president, said. “These projects help us determine the best uses so that when battery storage technology becomes even more cost-competitive, as it is projected to do, we can deploy them quickly for the benefit of our customers.”

The chosen sites will include the Lake Placid Solar Power Plant, with an 18 MW battery storage addition; John Hopkins Middle School in Pinellas County, where a 3.5 MW microgrid of solar-plus storage will be added for the special needs emergency shelter there; and a site in Alachua County meant to enhance power quality through the addition of 8.25 MW of storage.

The Lake Placid plant is a 45 MW site owned and operated by Duke Energy since last year. By adding battery storage, the company will undertake its first utility scale pairing of solar and battery power. The battery will also allow solar energy to be dispatched by the company’s grid operators and improve the plant’s efficiency. By contrast, the Alachua County site will serve as a cost-effective means of providing power quality and reliability for locals around the town of Micanopy, Florida.

Meanwhile, the middle school site will serve as both a support to existing grid operations and a backup power for when the school is converted into a special needs hurricane evacuation shelter. Given these needs, the microgrid will consist of two parts: a 1 MW solar parking canopy array and a 2.5 MW battery and controls for the storage and deployment of renewable energy.

All three sites should be completed by the end of 2021 and will supplement another three battery storage installations already planned for Florida. Together, they will contribute 50 MW of battery storage to Duke Energy Florida’s portfolio by 2022.