Duke Energy Florida to invest $1B in solar power facilities

Duke Energy Florida will have invested approximately $1 billion to construct or acquire a total of 700 megawatts of solar power facilities from 2018 through 2022 in Florida.

That will more than quadruple the amount of solar energy on the system. This year alone, Duke Energy Florida has broken ground on two new solar sites, both expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

One is the Duette Solar Power Plant in Manatee County. Once operational, this facility will produce about 74.5-MW of energy – enough energy to power 23,000 homes. It will consist of approximately 227,000 single-axis tracking solar panels.

The other is the Charlie Creek Solar Power Plant in Hardee County. This 74.9-MW facility will consist of approximately 235,000 single-axis tracking solar panels.

In the spring of this year, two new solar plants will be coming online. One is the Twin Rivers Solar Power Plant in Hamilton County, a 74.9-MW facility with approximately 235,000 single-axis tracking solar panels. The other is the Santa Fe Solar Power Plant in Columbia County, a 74.9-MW plant. The 74.9 MW Sandy Creek Solar Power Plant in Bay County is expected to be completed by spring 2022.

“Duke Energy Florida is delivering on what customers want: innovative, affordable, and sustainable clean energy solutions,” Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida president, said. “We are committed to environmental stewardship and more fuel diversity. Customers can expect us to continue our expansion of solar energy for many years to come.”

Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, provides about 10,200 megawatts of electric capacity to approximately 1.8 million customers in the state.