Duke Energy’s newest battery in Asheville’s Shiloh community will help the grid run more efficiently and make it possible to add more renewable energy to the region. At 9 megawatts, the lithium-ion battery is the company’s largest in North Carolina and one of several new projects.
It’s part of the Western Carolinas Modernization Project, a plan that includes strengthening the grid, retiring a 55-year-old coal plant, replacing it with a more efficient natural gas plant, and adding more renewable energy to the area.
Duke Energy plans to invest $600 million in battery projects across the six states it serves as part of its goal to modernize the grid and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Batteries can provide backup energy storage, but, like the Asheville Rock Hill battery, they can also control energy flow inside power lines, resulting in fewer outages and flickers. This will be important as more solar power is added to the grid and its output fluctuates throughout the day.
Check out the video below of the Asheville Rock Hill battery. For more on recent Duke Energy battery storage projects in the Carolinas, click here.
