On Monday, North Carolina-headquartered Duke Energy, one of the largest energy holding companies in the United States, announced that its Sustainable Solutions subsidiary has begun construction on a 250 MW solar energy project in Navarro County, Texas, outside Dallas. Once operational, the Pisgah Ridge Solar Project will be the largest utility-scale solar facility in the Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions portfolio.
Duke‘s renewables division currently operates nearly 1,500 MW of wind, 500 MW of solar and a 36 MW battery storage facility in Texas. The addition of the 250 MW Pisgah Ridge Solar facility, which will be located outside of Dallas, will generate enough energy to power approximately 63,000 additional residences in the state. The project is part of Duke Energy’s plan to double its renewables portfolio from 8GW to 16 GW by the end of 2025.
A deal with Charles River
In an announcement of the groundbreaking on Monday, Duke Energy reported that drug developer Charles River Laboratories has signed a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for 102 MW of the project over 15 year period. This will supply all of Charles River Labs’ North American electric power load with clean, renewable energy by 2023. Charles River was advised on the VPPA by energy manager Schneider Electric, with project selection and negotiation support. According to Duke Energy, two other (unnamed) corporations have signed separate 15-year VPPA’s for the remaining 148 MW of solar energy generated by Pisgah Ridge.
Duke expects the project to employ 200 to 300 workers at peak construction. Along with indirect economic benefits in the form of increased local spending in the service and construction industries, Pisgah Ridge is also expected to provide “significant” tax revenues for the Corsicana Independent School District.
Duke Energy’s Sustainable Solutions non-regulated commercial brand was launched in April of this year. The division offers customized clean energy and resilient infrastructure solutions at scale for private and public companies, government-led organizations and educational institutions across the U.S.
