Duke Energy to double renewables capacity to 16GW by 2025

April 29, 2020
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Image: Duke Energy.

US-based utility Duke Energy intends to double its renewables capacity to 16GW in the next five years.

With a current capacity of just over 8GW, yesterday Duke laid out ambitious plans to double that capacity to 16GW by 2025 as it continues to target net zero status by 2050.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Last year the utility reduced its carbon emissions by a further 8%, adding up to a total reduction of 39% compared to 2005 levels. But if Duke is to reach its net zero target, the company will have to combine a raft of coal-fired retirements with new renewables capacity, comprising solar, wind and biomass generation.

Duke Energy’s 2020 Climate Report states that by increasing its renewables generation capacity to 16GW by 2025, renewables’ share of Duke’s total output would increase from 12% to 20%. Duke would still need to maintain existing gas and nuclear power plants to preserve “reliability and affordability”, the company said.

While Duke has provided no specific technology breakdown for the additional 8GW, solar has played a critical role in its decarbonisation plans to date. Having surpassed 1GW of owned solar capacity last June, Duke has since snapped up around 400MW of capacity in Texas from 8minute and Canadian Solar subsidiary Recurrent Energy while also landing approval for a 194MW pipeline of projects in Florida.

Solar too will be Duke’s cheapest renewable option at a forecasted CapEx cost of US$900/kW, according to the company, compared to in excess of US$2,000/kW for wind.

And storage also looks set to play a critical role in Duke’s operations. The aforementioned report argues that to enable necessary coal phase-outs and proliferation of renewables, as much as 15GW of four-, six- and eight-hour duration storage will be needed by the company. Duke has highlighted that the main hurdles to achieving this will be regulatory and other red tape such as planning permits, rather than any technology or cost-related barriers.

Lynn Good, chair, president and chief executive at Duke Energy, said the reports showcased the company’s plan to address challenges from climate change.

“Our commitment to ESG has delivered strong results for our customers and our shareholders – and we're focused on maintaining this level of performance and transparency as we work to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” she said.

21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.
16 June 2026
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2027 and beyond.

Read Next

Premium
October 17, 2025
According to Ronak Maheshwari of CRC-IB, there has been a struggle for US renewable power projects to secure necessary equity .
October 17, 2025
A group of over 20 US states are suing the Trump administration for the cancellation of the US$7 billion Solar For All Scheme.
October 16, 2025
T1 Energy and Nextracker have agreed to use the latter’s steel module frames at the former’s new 5GW module manufacturing facility in Dallas.
October 16, 2025
US utility-scale solar additions grew by 56% in 2024, reaching 30GW from 2023’s 19GW and representing over 54% of all new electricity generation capacity added in the country last year.
October 15, 2025
The average price of a solar PPA signed in North America increased 4% between the second and third quarters of 2025, according to LevelTen.
October 15, 2025
Independent power producer (IPP) Geronimo has begun construction on it’s150MW solar project in Illinois and commissioned the 125MW PV project in Michigan.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK