Solar energy provider FLS Energy has closed financing and begun construction on seven utility-scale solar PV plants in the U.S. state of North Carolina.
The 42 MW project will produce some 64 million kWh of solar electricity each year, producing enough clean power to meet the needs of 6,000 local households.
North Carolina utility Duke Energy has agreed 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with four of the projects, with the remaining three agreeing PPAs with Dominion North Carolina Power.
"To have a bundle of projects under construction this early in the year truly shows how our industry has matured in North Carolina," said FLS Energy CEO Dale Freudenberger. The states solar ambitions have proven bold in recent months, driven largely by Duke Energys desire to augment its solar delivery.
The utility was recently granted approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) to add 128 MW of solar power in the state, working alongside First Solar (acting as EPC) and Yingli Solar (module supplier). Overall, the utility has pledged a $500 million commitment to solar development in North Carolina.
Current cumulative PV capacity in North Carolina recently reached around 700 MW, placing the state third overall in the U.S. in terms of solar installed, just behind Arizona in second place. California remains the leading solar state in the U.S. by some distance.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.