Duke Energy (DUK) to Build Solar Plant at Indiana Naval Base
Duke Energy Corporation DUK recently announced its plans to construct a solar project at Naval Support Activity (“NSA”) Crane, located 40 miles southwest of Bloomington, IN, with a generating capacity of 17 megawatts (“MW”).
Duke Energy has requested a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (“IURC”). If approved, the facility will be owned and operated by Duke Energy Indiana, and is expected to start operating commercially at 2016-end. The facility will be connected to the electricity grid at a substation owned by Duke Energy Indiana on NSA Crane property.
The solar facility will utilize around 76,000 solar panels built on roughly 145 acres. It is expected to become one of the largest solar facilities in the state. Power generated by the facility will be supplied to customers of Duke Energy Indiana. Apart from this, the Navy will continue to purchase power from the company.
The latest agreement marks the second partnership between Duke Energy and the Department of the Navy. The previous partnership between the two was for a 13-MW solar facility at Camp Lejeune in Eastern North Carolina in 2015, which has already started operating.
Apart from this project, Duke Energy Indiana has signed agreements with solar other developers to purchase up to 20 megawatts of solar power at four locations in Indiana. Two of these facilities, located in Vigo and Clay counties, are currently operational, while the remaining two are expected to start operations in early 2016.
Moreover, the company, in coordination with the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, is investing $1 million to support research at the Battery Innovation Center near NSA Crane to learn how battery storage can maximize renewable power sources like rooftop solar panels and small wind turbines, and incorporate them into the electricity grid.
Solar energy is gradually transforming the way energy is produced and consumed, driving the ongoing global energy transition. With regulatory authorities encouraging renewable energy generation, dependence on fossil fuels is gradually declining. As per the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), electricity generated from renewable sources is projected to increase to 18% by 2040 in the U.S. Per the EIA’s latest reports, solar power plants generating nearly 9 gigawatts of clean energy will come online in the U.S. in the 2014–2016 timeframe.
Duke Energy is a premier utility service provider offering efficient power and energy services across various states in the U.S. and several other international locations. We appreciate the company’s efforts on expanding its scale of operations and implementing modern technologies at its facilities. Duke Energy invests heavily in infrastructure and expansion projects.
The company plans to invest about $3 billion in renewable energy over the next five years. It has already invested more than $4 billion in wind and solar facilities in 12 states over the past eight years.
Zacks Rank
Duke Energy currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked companies in the utility sector are Calpine Corp. CPN, FirstEnergy Corp. FE and Southern Company SO, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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