Dive Brief:
- Duke Energy Florida wants to develop about 500 MW of utility-scale solar within the next decade, with the first project expected to begin construction later this year.
- Duke said the solar investments would help enable the company to meet a significant need for additional generation beginning in 2018 and, in combination with other proposals, to retire half of its Florida coal-fired fleet by that same year.
- The proposal would essentially triple the state's solar power, Bloomberg Business points out.
Dive Insight:
It may have taken a while, but solar power appears to be coming in earnest to the Sunshine State. As part of its 2015 Ten-Year Site Plan proposed to the Florida Public Service Commission, Duke Energy has proposed adding 500 MW of utility-scale solar by 2024
"Innovative investments in solar energy will provide customers with more options to use this resource, while diversifying our energy mix and continuing to meet the needs of Florida's growing economy and population," said Alex Glenn, state president of Duke Energy Florida.
Duke's announcement follows a January proposal by Florida Power & Light Co. to add nearly 225 MW of solar power to the 110 MW the utility currently operates.
Construction of Duke's first solar site — an up to 5 MW project — will begin later this year, with 35 MW expected to be completed by 2018. That's peanuts compared to other states like California or North Carolina, but Duke said the first solar energy facilities will enable the company to evaluate costs and to monitor the effects of the resources on grid infrastructure.
The utility said the solar power would complement already-planned investments in a state-of-the-art, highly efficient combined-cycle natural gas plant in Citrus County, planned upgrades at its combined-cycle Hines plant in Polk County and the purchase of Calpine's Osprey plant, also in Polk County, allowing the company to meet a significant need for additional generation beginning in 2018 and to retire half of its Florida coal-fired fleet by that same year.
