Florida Power & Light to power the largest solar plant in the US

14 October 2009

Florida Power & Light will activate the largest solar plant in the US. The company’s DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Arcadia, Florida, is expected to begin delivering clean, renewable electricity to customers in October.

The DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center uses more than 90,000 photovoltaic panels to power more than 3,000 homes. It is one of three new large-scale renewable solar power plants FPL is building in Florida, along with solar energy centres in Martin County and at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Together, these will total 110MW of capacity by the end of 2010 and are expected to make Florida the second largest solar power-producing state in the country, according to FPL.

‘Large-scale solar projects such as FPL’s DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center provide Florida with the opportunity to create and attract more clean-energy jobs and produce millions of dollars in new revenue for local governments while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fighting the effects of climate change,’ said Eric Silagy, FPL’s vice president and chief development officer.

FPL is also working with local officials to secure the necessary approvals to expand the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, with a potential future capacity of 150MW.

Silagy added, ‘FPL is proud to lead the development of clean, renewable solar energy in Florida, and we are positioned to build even more with legislative and regulatory support.

‘With the right policy in place, this and several other shovel-ready solar projects would create sustainable job growth and provide a significant economic stimulus to local economies in Florida.’

FPL’s Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center, a 75MW facility that will be the first hybrid solar thermal plant in the world, is planned to be completed by the end of 2010. The Space Coast Next Generation Solar Energy Center, located on NASA property in Cape Canaveral, will add 10MW of solar photovoltaic power to FPL’s grid. The company serves 4.5 million customer accounts in Florida and employs nearly 11,000 employees.

Copyright © 2009 NewNet

Tags: solar

This story was published on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 6:07 pm and is filed under North America, deals, energy efficiency. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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