As part of Duke Energy’s US$500-million solar expansion announced in September, the application to build three solar facilities, totaling 128MW, has been approved by North Carolina’s regulators and the construction will begin in early 2015.

Duke Energy’s solar expansion includes buying power under purchase power agreements from five other new solar projects in both the Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress service territories. The three sites, which are located in Bladen, Duplin and Wilson counties, will provide energy and renewable energy certificates to benefit Duke Energy customers as cost-effective components of the company's portfolio to comply with the N.C. Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard.

"We are pleased the NCUC has approved the company's request to build these facilities," said Rob Caldwell, Duke Energy's senior vice president for distributed energy resources. "These projects will help provide significant amounts of cost-effective renewable energy to benefit our customers, comply with our state obligations and provide meaningful investments in the communities we serve."

The projects will begin construction in early 2015, and are expected to be completed by the end of 2015. More than 750 construction jobs are expected during the peak of construction at the three sites. Moreover, with the additional 128MW capacity, Duke Energy's expansion totals 278 MW of new solar capacity will contribute significantly to North Carolina's status as fourth in the nation for installed solar power.

The three acquired projects include:

• The 65 MW Warsaw Solar Facility in Duplin County. The Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) was transferred to Duke Energy from Strata Solar.
• The 40 MW Elm City Solar Facility in Wilson County. The CPCN was transferred to Duke Energy from HelioSage Energy.
• The 23 MW Fayetteville Solar Facility in Bladen County, near the Cumberland County border. The CPCN was transferred to Duke Energy from Tangent Energy Solutions.