Duke Energy's N.C. Solar Projects to Employ 900 Construction Workers

John Downey, Senior Staff Writer-Charlotte Business Journal

Duke Energy Progress expects to have 900 workers on the job during peak construction this summer at three solar farms it is building in North Carolina.

Duke (NYSE:DUK) purchased development rights to the three projects from independent power producers as part of the $500 million Duke has said it will spend on developing utility-scale solar in the state.

The largest of the three projects is the 65-megawatt Warsaw Solar Facility in Duplin County. That will be the largest solar project in the state when it is completed, although there are already larger projects in the works in North Carolina.

The other two projects are the 40-megawatt Elm City Solar Facility in Wilson County and the 23-megawatt Fayetteville Solar Facility in Bladen County.

More solar

“We are excited to partner with these communities to build and own facilities that offer customers additional options to use solar energy,” says Rob Caldwell, head of distributed energy resources for Duke. “Renewable energy will continue to be a growing part of our generation mix in the Carolinas.”

In addition to the three plants Duke will own, it has signed long-term power-purchase agreements with five other solar farms, totaling 150 megawatts in capacity, as part of its $500 million solar program.

Duke has more than 600 megawatts of solar capacity on its grid in North Carolina. Once these projects are completed, the company will have nearly 1,000 megawatts of solar capacity in the state.

Duke is also plans to build a 12.8-megawatt solar project at Camp Lejeune this year.