Phil Ammann
Florida Power & Light (FPL), the state’s largest utility company, announced plans today to triple its current solar energy capacity by 2016.
FPL intends to build three new solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants that will ultimately add nearly 225 megawatts of new solar energy to its current 110-megawatt capacity.
“Over the past decade, we have continuously focused on advancing reliable, affordable, clean energy for our customers,” said FPL CEO Eric Silagy. “We have developed what we believe will be a cost-effective plan to triple the amount of solar energy we use to serve our customers before the end of 2016.”
Although Silagy points out that costs of solar power have not yet become completely cost-effective, compared to FPL’s existing system, equipment prices have steadily decreased over the past few years.
With that, FPL identified three sites where cost-effective development of a new, large-scale solar plant allows the investment in additional equipment, with an overall goal of boosting affordable, clean energy in Florida.
In a statement released Monday, FPL says it is optimistic that solar energy will increasingly become a complement to its natural gas and nuclear resources while meeting the needs of Florida’s growing economy. FPL currently serves 4.7 million consumers in nearly half of the state.
“As the economics of solar power improve in the years ahead,” Silagy said, “we believe we will be able to harness more and more sunshine cost-effectively, alongside essential, high-efficiency, clean natural gas generation and zero-emissions nuclear power, to continue powering our customers and the state’s growing economy with affordable clean energy.”
Silagy added that building the new solar arrays, equivalent to 45,000 typical residential rooftop systems, would result in additional tax revenues and several hundred new jobs, primarily in rural communities in the FPL service area.
Three FPL sites that have been identified for the upgrades have built-in infrastructure advantages, making it easier to reduce the overall cost of building new solar plants:
- FPL Citrus Solar Energy Center – DeSoto County, near Florida’s first large-scale solar plant, which FPL commissioned in 2009
- FPL Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center – Charlotte County
- FPL Manatee Solar Energy Center – Manatee County
Existing FPL solar plants also include the hybrid FPL Martin Next Generation Clean Energy Center; the 25-megawatt FPL DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center; and the 10-megawatt FPL Space Coast Next Generation Solar Energy Center near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
New plants will produce roughly 74 megawatts each with a total new solar capacity of more than 225 megawatts. This would effectively triple the utility’s solar capacity, which currently is approximately 110 megawatts. Construction on the plants should begin later this year and could be completed by the end of 2016.
