Solar Projects in Florida

A Florida electric utility, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), announced that on New Year’s Day, it brought four new solar installations online, with four additional solar projects expected to be in commercial operation by March 1.

The solar facilities placed in service the first of the year are comprised of more than one million solar panels. The utility stated in its press release that in conjunction with the launch of the new solar facilities, it had officially retired yet another of its coal-fired power plants, this one at St. Johns River Power Park, one of the largest coal-fueled generating stations in the state. The company said that the simultaneous closure of the coal units and opening of the solar units was consistent with FPL’s long-term “forward-looking” strategy of pursuing smart, innovative clean energy investments and transitioning away from more conventional fossil fuel-based generating technologies.

The utility reported that it has installed more than 3.5 million new solar panels in less than two years and that it anticipates the number of solar panels installed to climb to more than 10 million by 2023. According to FPL, when the additional panels are installed in March, the total capacity of the eight new solar facilities will be almost 600 megawatts. Moreover, besides the clean air and emission reduction attributes of solar power, FPL conveyed that it estimates economic savings exceeding $100 million for customers once all eight new solar projects are in operation.