Duke Pours $145 Billion into 10-Year Plan for T&D, Renewables

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina) plans to invest $145 billion over the next 10 years in what it calls "critical energy infrastructure." About $75 billion of the total will go toward modernizing its transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure, while $40 billion will be invested in solar, wind, nuclear and other zero-carbon generation. Industrial Info is tracking more than $12.4 billion worth of active projects from Duke.

The $145 billion investment represents a $10 billion increase over the previous 10-year plan for Duke's seven regulated utilities. "These investments will pave the way as the company reaches 30,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy by 2035, and support the continued growth of technologies such as battery storage and electric vehicles," Duke said in a press release.

Click on the image at right for a heat map of Duke's active renewable-generation projects, from Industrial Info's Geolocator tool.

Duke already has more than $1.35 billion worth of renewable-generation projects nearing or under construction, according to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database. Subscribers to the database can click here for a list of detailed project reports, and learn more from Industrial Info's August 5, 2022, article - Duke Energy Executes 'Industry's Largest Clean-Energy Transition'.

In northern Florida, Duke is seeking permits for a series of solar-generation plants, each with a capacity of about 75 MW. The Bay Ranch Solar Plant in Panama City and the Hardeetown Solar Plant in Chiefland each would comprise 220,000 single-axis, bifacial panels, while the High Springs Solar Plant in Waldo would comprise about 216,000 such panels. Each project is slated to wrap up in the third quarter of 2023, although numerous factors, including the recent devastation from Hurricane Ian, could delay or alter any investment. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Bay Ranch, Hardeetown and High Springs projects.

Duke said it expects to exceed 50% carbon reduction by 2030, and to meet interim carbon emission reduction targets of 80% for Scope 1 emissions by 2040, and 50% for Scope 2 and 3 upstream and downstream emissions by 2035. "Duke Energy is one of the first utilities to address the totality of its impact--95% of the company's greenhouse gas emissions are now tied to a measurable net-zero goal," it said in the press release.

But the more immediate concern for Duke is meeting the demand for energy in some of its biggest growth areas--such as Central Florida, where the company is at work on the Polk County Reliability Enhancement Project. Duke is adding a substation at its Osprey Energy Center in Auburndale, Florida, and building two new transmission lines to avoid system overloads by supplying an alternate transmission path. The lines will originate at the Osprey Energy Center and run west to Lakeland, about 30 miles, and east to Haines City, about 24 miles. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project reports on the substation, western line and eastern line.

Click on the image at right for a heat map of Duke's active T&D projects, from Industrial Info's Geolocator tool.

Duke also is rebuilding several T&D lines in Indiana, after it announced a six-year plan last November to improve the reliability and durability of its statewide T&D network. These include an 8.2-mile line from near Franklin to near Helmsburg, and a 10.2-mile line in and around Loogootee. Subscribers can learn more from detailed project reports on the lines originating near Franklin and Loogootee.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports on active Duke Energy projects.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).