Florida Power & Light Announces 10 New Solar Projects Worth 745 Megawatts
Florida-based power utility company Florida Power & Light Company announced last week that it was beginning construction on 10 new solar projects, each of which will have a capacity of 74.5 megawatts (MW), thus bringing 745 MW of new solar capacity online beginning 2020.
Image Credit: FPL
Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) announced last Thursday the start of construction on its 10 new solar power plants. Currently, FPL operates around 1,250 MW of solar capacity across 18 projects and other smaller installations. Thus, when these 10 new solar projects begin generating electricity in early 2020, FPL will have nearly 2 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity generating clean electricity for Floridians — enough power for the equivalent of around 400,000 homes.
“FPL is well on its way to making Florida a world leader in solar energy,” said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. “This year alone we’re building enough solar to increase our solar capacity by 60% and we are just getting started as we count down to the installation of 30 million panels by 2030. With 18 solar plants in operation and 10 more on the way, we’re adding even more emissions-free power to one of the cleanest systems in the nation while consistently keeping our customers’ bills among the lowest in the nation.”
The 10 new projects are as follows:
- FPL Babcock Preserve Solar Energy Center, Charlotte County
- FPL Blue Heron Solar Energy Center, Hendry County
- FPL Cattle Ranch Solar Energy Center, DeSoto County
- FPL Echo River Solar Energy Center, Suwannee County
- FPL Hibiscus Solar Energy Center, Palm Beach County
- FPL Northern Preserve Solar Energy Center, Baker County
- FPL Okeechobee Solar Energy Center, Okeechobee County
- FPL Southfork Solar Energy Center, Manatee County
- FPL Sweetbay Solar Energy Center, Martin County
- FPL Twin Lakes Solar Energy Center, Putnam County
Image Credit: FPL
Six of the 10 new projects will support the company’s FPL SolarTogether — the company’s new community solar scheme which was launched in March and which is intended to allow customers to directly support the expansion of solar energy in Florida while receiving credit on their bills for the savings generated. If approved by the Florida Public Service Commission, the project will be the largest community solar program in the country. FPL SolarTogether is expected to build 20 new solar power projects over the next two years totalling 1,490 MW.
“We’ve been aggressively expanding solar with one goal in mind: bringing more solar to all of our customers cost-effectively while continuing to keep their bills lower than 90 percent of the country,” said Eric Silagy in March. “This innovative program is another major step forward in our ’30-by-30′ plan, which is one of the world’s largest solar expansions, and also an unprecedented opportunity for our customers to harness the power of the sun like never before.”
The announcement also comes following the company’s groundbreaking “30-by-30” plan to install more than 30 million solar panels by 2030 in an effort to make Florida a global solar leader. By 2030, therefore, FPL is hoping that it will be generating energy that is 67% cleaner than the national electric company average.
“FPL is not your traditional electric company,” said Eric Silagy in January. “We’re a technology company that delivers power, and we’ve long believed in making smart, forward-thinking infrastructure investments to produce tangible, long-term benefits – cleaner air, lower electric rates and reliable service – for our customers and our state. Now we’re taking our long-standing clean energy commitment to the next level. Bottom line, this bold, innovative plan is the right thing to do for our customers and for our fast-growing state, and we look forward to working with local and state officials and our regulators to make this vision a reality.”
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