Duke Energy to build 17 MW solar plant for Navy in Indiana

By Editor

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Duke Energy said it is constructing a new 17-megawatt solar power plant at Naval Support Activity Crane, also known as the Crane naval station, located about 40 miles southwest of Bloomington, Ind.

The project marks the second major solar project that Duke Energy is building in partnership with the Department of the Navy. The company has built a 13-MW solar plant at Camp Lejeune in Eastern North Carolina, which is now operational.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has approved a settlement agreement between the company and the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor to build the Crane solar plant.

Spread across roughly 145 acres in the southeast portion of the naval base, the solar power plant will be the second-largest solar power plant in the state, and the largest on the Duke Energy Indiana system.

“This helps provide our customers with a more balanced energy mix using both traditional fuel sources and renewable energy sources,” said Melody Birmingham-Byrd, president of Duke Energy Indiana. The solar plant will deliver clean energy to Indiana customers, and improved energy security for the Navy, Birmingham-Byrd added.

Construction activity will begin this month, with installation of approximately 76,000 solar panels. The power plant is expected to start sending solar energy to the grid by early 2017.

Rajani Baburajan

editor@greentechlead.com

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