US utility Duke Energy has unveiled plans to develop about 300MW of battery storage projects in the Carolinas over the next 15 years.
The company will invest $500m in the facilities boosting North and South Carolina’s storage capacity from just over 15MW currently.
This week, it filed for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the North Carolina Utilities Commission for a 2MW solar facility combined with 4MW lithium-based battery storage plant at Hot Springs in Madison County.
Duke has also revealed plans for a 9MW lithium-ion battery system at a substation in Rock Hill.
A 95 kilowatt-hour zinc-air battery with a 10kW solar installation has been serving a communications tower on Mount Sterling in the Smoky Mountains National Park for more than a year, it added.
Duke Energy Renewables and Distributed Energy Technology president Rob Caldwell said: “Duke Energy is at the forefront of battery energy storage, and our investment could increase as we identify projects that deliver benefits to our customers.
“Utility-owned and operated projects in North Carolina and South Carolina will include a variety of system benefits that will help improve reliability for our customers and provide significant energy grid support for the region.”