Duke Energy Developing a Microgrid Charging Station
Image courtesy of Noya Fields under Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License, resized to 700 x 391 pixels.
Duke’s recent announcement that it is building a microgrid charging station is a utility-industry blogger’s dream because it encompasses 3 important trends happening in the electric utility industry – electric vehicles, microgrids and renewable energy. It doesn’t get much better than that (for me)!
Details of Duke’s Microgrid Charging Station
The microgrid charging station, located at Duke Energy’s Mount Holly Technology and Innovation Center in North Carolina, should be online by the end of 2023. It will be fully integrated with energy storage, solar, and optimization software, and it is the first of its kind for Duke.
The station is being designed with flexibility in mind, as it will be able to integrate with either Duke’s power grid or the microgrid located in Mount Holly. It is being developed in partnership with electric fuel solutions company Electrada. Another company that is heavily involved is Daimler Truck North America, which is the leading manufacturer of battery-electric trucks and has a large manufacturing facility located next to the station.
Generally speaking, I would guess that this project is something akin to a pilot program for Duke. Various classes of vehicles, charging scenarios, and operating models will likely be tested to optimize the facility and provide a roadmap for expansion. And as an added bonus, the project helps demonstrate Duke’s commitment to the environment, as the microgrid will generate 100% carbon-free electricity.
I really like this concept. While it does not directly apply to the main focus of this blog, emergency preparedness, it does speak to the overarching industry trends that will need to be accounted for in emergency planning efforts. In other words, any emergency plan that ignores EVs, clean energy, or distributed generation is missing important context.
It will be interesting to see if Duke’s microgrid charging station maximizes its potential and leads to an expansion of the network. I, for one, will be watching closely.
