INDIANAPOLIS - In a move to create a more sustainable and resilient power supply, the U.S. Navy and Duke Energy have reached an agreement to build a 145-acre solar park at Crane naval base in Southern Indiana.
The 76,000-panel park will be owned, operated and maintained by Duke Energy and will feed into Duke's main grid, which includes Crane.
The solar park will provide energy to all of Duke's Southwestern Indiana customers. Officials said it will help keep costs down.
The solar park is part of a push by both Duke and the Navy to move toward cleaner, more sustainable energy.
"Change is clearly in the air," Duke Energy Indiana President Melody Birmingham-Byrd said. "Speci.cally, the growing trend of generating more of our electric energy from renewable resources." Dennis McGinn, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and environment, was at the Statehouse for the announcement. McGinn said Crane is a vital base for Navy technology, and the partnership between the Navy and Duke will ensure Crane continues to be an important part of day-to-day Navy operations.
"We're making sure our energy supply is resilient and varied," Mc-Ginn said. "And we're doing so in a way that strengthens our relationship with Indiana." The Navy is also committed to changing where its energy comes from for the future. The current goal is to produce 50 percent of its energy from alternative sources by 2020. Duke and the Navy have a similararrangement in North Carolina at the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune base.
Birmingham-Byrd said the solar park still needs approval fro m the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. Once Duke gets the IURC's go-ahead, construction will begin, Birmingham-Byrd said. She is confident the park will be up and running by the end of the year.
At peak performance, the park will generate about 17 megawatts of power, which Birmingham-Byrd said is enough to power about 1,000 homes for a day.
"The trend toward renewable energy will continue to grow," she said. "We are preparing for the future." In exchange for using Crane's land, Duke will invest money into the naval base's infrastructure, according to Cmdr. Timothy Craddock, the commanding officer at the base. He said the partnership with Duke is an investment in the base's future.
Crane's unique technological abilities, coupled with the size of the base, makes it ideal for this type of project, officials said.