Duke Energy’s Methane Monitoring Platform to Receive Federal Funding

Duke Energy’s Integrated Methane Monitoring Platform Extension (IMMPE) project is receiving $1 million in federal funding from the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.

The methane-monitoring platform, which utilizes satellites, sensors, and other technology to detect and measure methane emissions in real-time, has reduced gaseous leaks by more than 85% since the start of 2022. Duke Energy will implement its IMMPE project for interstate natural gas distribution systems and customer natural gas assets, providing a standardized framework for methane measurement and quantification.

"Collaboration with our downstream customers like Duke Energy is crucial to advance the use of technology and to create opportunities to reduce emissions throughout the entire natural gas supply chain," said Chad Zamarin, Executive VP of Corporate Strategic Development at Williams. "As an industry, it's critical that energy suppliers, customers and academics work together to share information and develop best practices to measure and reduce emissions, ultimately making certified low-carbon gas available to consumers."

The framework can extend to upstream components, including midstream transmission and storage, and upstream production and gathering facilities.

In collaboration with the Williams-owned Transco pipeline, Duke Energy will deploy its methane monitoring tools at a compressor station to record leakage data. This installation will expand Williams’ use of ground-based, aerial, and satellite emission detection tools to gather data for the company’s NextGen Gas strategy.

The project will commence in North Carolina later in 2023 to record and interpret methane emissions data, including:

• Operating measurement technologies such as satellites, UAVs, and aerial light detection to detect and quantify methane emissions for local and upstream natural gas assets.
• Testing methane-monitoring technologies on local and midstream natural gas assets using sensors, gas cloud imaging cameras, and handheld/portable gas-sensing analyzers.
• Analyzing data from the measurement technologies to understand performance, operational efficacy, and accuracy in various environments and weather conditions.
• Leveraging the results of technology pilots and data architecture to develop a strategic deployment plan for the IMMPE.

Duke Energy has set a goal to reach net-zero methane emissions by 2030 for company operations (Scope 1 emissions) and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 for natural gas purchases and customer sale. The company plans to hit these decarbonization milestones through the installation of the IMMPE on natural gas assets.