Duke powers up 11-MW battery at Marine Corps base in N Carolina

US utility Duke Energy Corp (NYSE:DUK) on Thursday announced the start of commercial operations at an 11-MW/11-MWh battery energy storage system in North Carolina, touted as the largest one in the state.

The facility in Onslow County will be mostly run alongside an existing 13-MW solar park, which has been generating electricity at a site within Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune since 2015. The two installations, both of which are sitting on leased land, can also be operated independently.

Power from the solar park and the battery will be available to Duke Energy Progress, the utility’s North Carolina-based unit. Their output could help improve the resiliency of MCB Camp Lejeune against outages, Duke Energy noted.

The battery is using lithium iron phosphate technology. OCI, the building unit of engineering company Black & Veatch, was in charge of the project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) activities.

“Pairing the energy storage system with our existing solar facility at Camp Lejeune helps strengthen the reliability of our energy grid and makes better use of our existing solar generation,” said Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy’s North Carolina state president.

Duke Energy aims to have more than 1,600 MW of battery storage in service by 2029.

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