Carbon-Free Resource Integration Study

This report presents a net load analysis, geospatial analysis, and a web application for the Duke Energy Carbon-Free Resource Integration Study. In this collaborative engagement, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provides research support to Duke Energy to analyze the impacts of integrating significant amounts of new solar photovoltaic (PV) power into its service territory under a variety of scenarios. This analysis covers Duke Energy's territories in North Carolina and South Carolina, including two balancing authorities - Duke Energy Progress (DEP) and Duke Energy Carolinas (DEC) - with detailed assessments and discussions of the operations of the existing fleet, particularly nuclear generation, under high-penetration scenarios of solar PV. In addition to quantifying the solar potential, NREL is working with Duke Energy to identify possible opportunities for wind, storage, demand-side resources, and other technologies.