Duke Energy, Elevate Renewables, and Fluence Energy, along with BrightNight and Cordelio Power, are advancing BESS projects across the BESS.
Duke Energy brings BESS online at former coal plant in North Carolina
Major US utility company Duke Energy has brought online a 50MW/200MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at its former Allen coal plant on Lake Wylie, in North Carolina, US.
The BESS, costing around US$100 million, was finished under budget and ahead of schedule, starting to serve customers in November. Final testing is ongoing this month.
Construction of a second, larger BESS, Duke Energy’s biggest at 167MW/668MWh, will start in May on 10 acres where the coal plant’s emissions control system used to be, but has since been demolished.
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Both lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery systems are eligible for federal investment tax credits (ITCs), covering 40% of the cost for Duke Energy customers. This amount includes an additional 10% for reinvestment into an energy community, following the coal plant’s retirement in December 2024.
Duke Energy says it intends to expand its battery storage across several counties in the Carolinas.
According to the company’s 2025 Carolinas Resource Plan, currently under review by state regulators, it plans to add 6,550MW of battery capacity by 2035 to ensure reliable service and accommodate increasing demand in North and South Carolina.
Duke forecasted that, if the plan is implemented, the proposed changes would lead to a 2.1% rise in customer bills. The company states this increase is lower than the projected costs of their previously approved plan.
The 2023 Carolinas Resource Plan aimed for 2,700MW of battery storage by 2031, resulting in a total of 5,600MW, a 2,900MW increase to support immediate growth and take advantage of tax credits.
The utility added that the plan upholds Gaston County’s—where the BESS is located—tradition of supporting its customers across both states.
Duke Energy’s proposal includes installing battery storage at the county’s former coal plant sites on the Catawba River- Allen, in Belmont and Riverbend, in Mount Holly. The Riverbend project, a 115MW/460MWh BESS, is scheduled to start construction in late 2026 and become operational by late 2027.
The utility has also proposed a third BESS at Allen to be operational by the end of 2028, along with a regional facility for operations, training, and storage of batteries and renewables, capable of supporting 20-50 employees. Both plans are still in development and awaiting regulatory approval.
Fluence supplies BESS for BrightNight and Cordelio Power’s 1,200MWh Arizona project
US-headquartered energy storage system integrator Fluence Energy has announced it will supply its Gridstack Pro BESS for the solar-plus-storage Pioneer Clean Energy Centre in Yuma County, Arizona.
The Pioneer Clean Energy Centre, being developed by independent power producers (IPPs) BrightNight and Cordelio Power, pairs a 300MWac solar facility with a 300MW/1,200MWh BESS.
In February 2025, BrightNight and Cordelio announced a power purchase agreement (PPA) for Pioneer with utility Arizona Public Service (APS).
The Pioneer Clean Energy Centre is expected to generate hundreds of construction and operational jobs, according to Brightnight, along with significant tax revenue for the local community. The facility is anticipated to start commercial operations in April 2027.
Fluence’s Gridstack Pro will include US-made cells, modules, enclosures, and thermal management systems, “supporting the advancement of domestically produced energy storage technology while strengthening American energy security.”
In October 2023, the company introduced the Gridstack Pro solution, which provides customers with improved performance and reduced operating costs by enhancing state of charge (SOC) accuracy, enabling string-level control, and incorporating pre-integrated asset performance management intelligence, the company stated.
BrightNight has collaborated with its joint venture (JV) partner Cordelio on several occasions, including the Box Canyon project, a 300MW solar PV and 600MWh BESS in Pinal County, Arizona. A PPA for this project was finalised in July 2022.
In late 2025, Cordelio and BrightNight announced financial close of the 200MW/800MWh Greenwater BESS in Piece County, Washington state. It will provide capacity and grid services to the utility Puget Sound Energy.
Elevate Renewables acquires 150MW Virgina BESS
Developer and IPP Elevate Renewables has acquired the 150MW/600MWh Prospect Power Storage BESS project near Northern Virginia’s ‘Data Centre Alley.’
According to Elevate, the BESS, located in Rockingham County, is the largest standalone battery storage asset in the PJM Interconnection. It is currently under construction and scheduled to begin operations in mid-2026.
In 2025, Swift Current Energy, a renewables and energy storage developer based in Massachusetts, secured US$242 million in financing for Prospect Power. This marked Swift Current Energy’s first large-scale battery project, which they acquired in 2023 from Clean Planet Energy, a joint venture between Open Road Renewable Energy and Eolian.
Clean Plant Energy is a JV between the developers Open Road Renewable Energy and Eolian.
Prospect Power is committed to a 15-year PPA with utility Dominion Energy Virginia, “positioning the project as an essential energy resource to ensure cost-effective grid reliability and meet the rapidly growing demand for power across the Mid-Atlantic region.”
In 2024, Elevate revealed plans for a 15MW/60MWh battery storage project at the Arthur Kill Power Station in Staten Island, NY. Once finished, Elevate claims it will be the biggest battery storage system in New York City.
In the same year, Elevate revealed plans to install a grid-forming BESS at a fossil fuel peaker plant in Connecticut, funded with US$27.5 million from the US Department of Energy (DOE). Elevate’s Innovative Inertia Project aims to upgrade the 244MW Devon Generating Station peaker unit by integrating a BESS that can deliver inertia, synchronous condensing (‘green sync’), and other vital grid services, according to the company.
According to a report by the independent market monitor for PJM Interconnection, Northern Virginia’s ‘Data Centre Alley’ is the largest concentration of data centres worldwide, and lies within PJM’s jurisdiction. PJM’s departing CEO, Manu Asthana, has highlighted the importance of the US “winning the race” for global AI leadership. This outlook aligns with statements from the White House and major Silicon Valley firms.
Partly due to ‘Data Centre Alley’s’ large energy demand, data centres are projected to increase power demand overall by nearly 12,000MW this summer.
The Energy Storage Summit USA will be held from 24-25 March 2026, in Dallas, TX. It features keynote speeches and panel discussions on topics like FEOC challenges, power demand forecasting, and managing the BESS supply chain. ESN Premium subscribers can get exclusive discounts on ticket prices. For complete information, visit the Energy Storage Summit USA website.
