Florida Power & Light starts $400 million solar project in Manatee County
PARRISH -- The ceremonial start of construction to a new solar power plant in Parrish this week may foretell a bright and sunny future for at least a small piece of the Florida electric power market.
Business leaders, county commissioners and city and law enforcement officials joined Florida Power & Light executives and employees Thursday to kick off construction in Parrish of what will be one of the three largest solar power arrays in the state. The crowd watched as the company drove the first support pilings into the ground that will hold a third of a million solar panels at the Manatee Solar Energy Center.
FP&L is starting a $400 million construction project that will bring three new solar installations online by the end of the year. One of those installations is being built on 762 acres the utility owns at its natural-gas-fired Manatee Power Plant in Parrish.
Once operational, about 338,000 solar panels there will produce 74.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power the equivalent of about 13,500 homes for one year.
Concurrently, FP&L will build a similarly sized solar center on 440 acres at Babcock Ranch, a master-planned subdivision in Charlotte County. It will also build its Citrus Solar Energy Center, which will be located on 841 acres in DeSoto County.
Together, the three plants will generate about 225 megawatts of electricity, more than double the 110 megawatts FP&L currently generates from the sun. About 1 million solar panels will be installed across all three new plants.
Eric Silagy, FP&L's CEO, said the new solar generating capacity is a step forward for his company in terms of producing "clean" energy. Fifteen years ago, FP&L burned more oil -- 41 million barrels -- than any other utility in the nation to produce electricity. Today, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of its generation comes from oil.
Cutting out the oil and expanding solar capacity, Silagy said during Thursday's event, cuts pollution and makes Florida a more attractive place.
"I don't believe people are going to move here if the air is hard to breathe," he said.
Solar is still a tiny component of the company's electricity generation. About .06 percent, or 110 megawatts, of the electricity it produces comes from solar. The majority, about 70 percent, comes from burning natural gas.
Still, seeing that capacity grow with the addition of the Manatee solar panels struck home for Florida's secretary of agriculture, Adam Putnam. Speaking at the event, he recalled participating in science fair when he was a child where a solar cell was used to power a tiny toy car.
"Within a generation, we are prepared to triple Florida's solar energy production with that same technology," Putnam said.
Vanessa Baugh, chairwoman of the Manatee County Board of Commissioners, pointed to the solar energy center as "the way of the future." She gave FP&L credit for moving the project forward and taking advantage of one of Florida's most abundant resources.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Florida ranks 10th in the nation for solar power production. It is ranked ninth in terms of the amount of sunlight it receives.
FP&L announced its intention to build three new solar plants during an earnings call in October.
The utility came under fire in November for discontinuing a program that rebated homeowners up to $20,000 each to install their own electricity-producing solar panels. Silagy was also vocal in opposing a failed measure last year that would have allowed individuals and companies that are not utilities to generate and sell solar power.
Still, FP&L's new utility-centered solar plan has garnered some approval from environmental groups. Eric Draper, the executive director of Audubon Florida, expressed his approval for the new solar centers during Thursday's program. He said adding solar will reduce the need to burn fossil fuels, and for millions of gallons of water used to generate steam to turn electric turbines.
FP&L is paying the up-front cost to build the three solar facilities. Mike Bubriski, a spokesman for the company, said solar generation will allow the utility to avoid burning enough fuel over time to offset the cost of the hardware and installation. Utility customers, he said, will not see the cost of the facilities reflected in their bills.
Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027, or on Twitter@MattAtBradenton.
This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 5:45 PM with the headline "Florida Power & Light starts $400 million solar project in Manatee County ."