Duke Energy will build a solar power facility costing between $25 million and $30 million at Camp Lejeune.

In return, the Marines are providing the 80 acres of land at fair-market rental value, with considerations, under a long-term lease deal, Duke spokesperson Randy Wheeless told WRAL TechWire.

The plant will have a capacity of 13 megawatts, which would be enough power for about 3,000 homes. Duke will own and operate the farm, which is expected to go online later this year.

It also could provide emergency backup power for the base in the event of a larger power grid outage, Wheeless noted.

Power will be directed to a nearby Duke substation, and the base will continue to buy power from the company.

This is the first solar facility Duke is building at a military base and is part of a Department of Defense initiative to acquire power from renewable sources.

“Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus set an aggressive but critical goal for the DON to produce or procure one gigawatt of renewable energy by the end of 2015,” said Robert Griffin, executive director of the Department of the Navy’s Renewable Energy Program Office.

“Through an effective partnership with (Duke), and once both parties sign the lease agreement, the project at Camp Lejeune will be another opportunity to bring renewable energy online, providing greater resource availability, and diversity for Camp Lejeune and the surrounding community,” he added.

The solar farm is part of Duke’s continuing efforts to meet renewable power goals required by legislation in North Carolina. 

Last fall, Duke committed to invest some $500 million in additional renewable power projects. It already purchases about 500 megawatts of solar power in the state. 

“This project strengthens Duke Energy’s commitment to bring more solar power to our customers, while advancing the Department of the Navy’s interest in installing more renewable energy at military bases around the U.S.,” said Rob Caldwell, Duke’s senior vice president of distributed energy resources.

The North Carolina Utilities Commission must still approve the Lejeune project.