• The Conference

Industry Tour


TOURS ARE SOLD OUT

TOUR #1  SOLD OUT
Microgrid & Battery Manufacturing Plant Tour

Monday, April 11 (7:30 am – 1:30 pm)
Bus departs The Westin Charlotte at 8:00 am & Bus departs the Omni Charlotte Hotel at 8:30 am

Alevo Battery & Gridbank Manufacturing Plant

Tour the Alevo Battery & Gridbank Manufacturing plant at the sprawling Victory Industrial Park in Concord, North Carolina—a former Phillip Morris complex just 20 miles from Charlotte. Attendees will get a first-hand look at Alevo’s battery manufacturing process and learn about utility-scale energy storage. Participants will gain a better understanding of Alevo’s plan to produce 16.2 GWh of batteries per year, and how the deployment of these energy storage systems tied to the grid can reduce power costs while facilitating the continued adoption of renewable energy sources.


Duke Energy’s Microgrid Test Site

The second half of our Monday tour is a stop at Duke Energy’s microgrid test site located at the utility’s McAlpine Substation in south Charlotte. Created by Duke Energy’s Emerging Technology group, the system includes a 50 kW solar array plus a 500 kW battery storage unit with an automated test circuit that gives the microgrid automatic islanding and re-sync capabilities. The system enables an adjacent fire station to remain fully operable during periods of prolonged grid outages. Tour attendees will get a first-hand look at the microgrid’s distributed energy resources, switchgear and controls, along with an explanation of how it all works.


Cost: $150.00
Important Information
All participants must sign the Visitor Safety Guidelines form to participate. Please sign the form and return to Andrea Anderson – aanderson@bbiinternational.com


TOUR #2  SOLD OUT
Examining Charlotte’s Growing Biogas Industry

Thursday, April 14 (8:30 am – 2:00 pm)
Bus departs The Westin Charlotte Hotel at 7:45 am & Bus departs the Omni Charlotte Hotel at 8:15 am

Blue Sphere Waste-to-Energy Facility

Blue Sphere Corporation’s anaerobic digestion facility in Charlotte, North Carolina brings a technology with widespread deployment across Europe to the United States. This 5.2 megawatt facility will process between 400-600 tons of food waste per day in three anaerobic digesters. The methane generated will be burned in three Caterpillar internal combustion engines to produce electric power. Attendees will receive a walking tour of the facility, a step-by-step explanation of this unique waste-to-energy process and the opportunity to ask Blue Sphere engineers questions about the facility and its construction.



McAlpine Creek Wastewater Management Facility

McAlpine Creek WWMF is one of the largest wastewater plants in the state of NC, with a permitted treatment capacity of 65 million gallons per day. Anaerobic digestion is already used to digest inbounds solids and the resulting methane is currently being flared. The facility is deploying a containerized internal combustion engine to utilize the energy within the methane. The project is intended to prove the feasibility for the deployment of more engines and greater power output. Tour attendees will tour the wastewater operation and the work being done to deliver methane to the power generating infrastructure.



Registration Deadline was Monday, March 28*
Cost: $150.00

Important Information
  • *The registration deadline for the industry tour is March 28th to provide tour hosts time to perform the required background checks for registered tour participants
  • Both facilities require attendees to wear long pants and closed toed shoes.
  • No site photography is permitted.
  • All attendees must arrive at the facilities on the tour bus.

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