Samsung SDI, the battery business arm of Samsung Group, said Wednesday that it had inked a supply deal of its lithium-ion batteries and battery management systems with Duke Energy, the largest electric power company in the U.S.

The supply deal is the latest of SDI’s moves to increase its presence in the global storage system industry.

SDI made deals with U.S. energy solution service provider GCN, Japanese capacitor maker Nichicon and electronics manufacturer Sharp during recent years to provide batteries and energy storage systems.

SDI’s lithium-ion batteries and battery management systems will be deployed to upgrade the 36-megawatt energy storage and power management system of Duke Energy’s Notrees wind farm in Texas.

The U.S. firm’s energy system, based on lead acid batteries, which has been in operation since 2012, will be powered by SDI’s lithium-ion batteries from 2016.

“We are proud to share Duke Energy’s clean energy ambitions and to give a new heart to the nation’s largest power battery storage facility through our most innovative lithium-ion batteries and battery management system,” said Kim Woo-chan, senior vice president of energy storage for Samsung SDI, in a press release.

“We are committed to partnering with Duke Energy throughout the lifecycle of the product with our industry renowned performance guarantee.”

The total capacity of lithium-ion energy storage systems in the U.S. will grow from 340 MWh in 2015 to 4,300 MWh in 2020, according a 2014 report of U.S. market researcher Navigant Research

By Kim Young-won  (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)