Duke Energy Florida has unveiled plans for three new battery energy storage projects to boost electricity reliability and critical services during outages.

That includes 18MW of battery storage at Lake Placid Solar Power Plant, 8.25MW of storage in Alachua County and 3.5MW solar plus storage at John Hopkins Middle School in Pinellas County.

They will play an important role in supporting consumers during significant weather events as well as addressing overall grid efficiency and reliability, in addition to enabling the utility to integrate more renewable sources onto the grid.

Catherine Stempien, Duke Energy Florida President said: “Batteries are an exciting technology that allows us to bring more renewables onto the grid and support resiliency in our communities.

“These projects help us determine the best uses so that when battery storage technology becomes even more cost-competitive, as it is projected to do, we can deploy them quickly for the benefit of our customers.”

Duke Energy Florida is also investing in 530 electric vehicle charging stations and a modernised power grid.