Newest Manatee County FPL solar energy sites on track for March 2024 completion

PARRISH — Innovation is the name of the game for Florida Power & Light at its north Manatee County sites as the utility company expands its footprint of solar power and increases its renewable energy capacity.

Parrish serves as the home of the FPL Manatee Clean Energy Center, a complex of sites that produce electricity for the statewide power grid and for the region’s millions of customers. The energy center includes the newest solar site, Elder Branch, off of State Road 62, brought online in January 2022, along with one of the world’s largest batteries, the Energy Storage Center, nearby.

Statewide, FPL has 66 solar energy sites with another 22 sites under construction, including two more to come in Manatee County: Three Creeks Solar Energy Center and Sambucus Solar Energy Center, near the Manatee-Hardee border. Both are expected to be operational by the end of March 2024.

Manatee's four operating FPL energy sites are integral to the company's electrical grid locally and across the state. With the continued development and growth of Florida’s rural areas, FPL increasing its capacity using one of the state’s most abundant natural resources — sunshine.

"Electrical plants feed what it is closest to," said FPL director of development Matt Silver.

"The original purpose of these solar centers was an alternative for the storms and hurricanes that we know happen in Florida but now, they have multiple uses."

Beginning in 2016 with its first solar site in rural Manatee County, the company has been focusing more resosurces in Manatee County, with plans to continue investing in solar energy statewide FPL spokesman Jack Eble said.

“The goal is to get more solar on the grid and to buy and utilize less fuel which costs FPL and its customers,” Eble said. “We are always trying to find innovative solutions for reliable electricity at a lower cost.”

Impact of solar energy

Rows of tracker-enabled solar panels line FPL’s Elder Branch Solar Energy Center, which has contributed to the approximately $375 million in avoided fuel costs provided by solar, Eble said.

The 600-acre property is zoned for agriculture, like the majority utility company’s solar energy portfolio, and provides 74.5 megawatts of power. The site is capable of powering approximately 15,000 homes.

The FPL Manatee Energy Storage Center – which has been providing electricity since December 2021 – is one of the world’s largest solar-powered batteries. It's charged by the solar center and has enough capacity to power 329,000 homes for more than two hours.

The Energy Storage Center was designed with technology that provides remote engineering solutions, nonstop monitoring, and multiple layers of safety protections, in the same footprint as its natural gas predecessor — the orange and white steam stacks once used to convert steam to energy.

The center has just over 400 battery storage systems with the equivalent energy and power of 100 million iPhone batteries. By storing solar energy from the FPL Manatee Solar Energy Center, the FPL Manatee Energy Storage Center enables customers to enjoy the benefits of solar even with the sun isn’t shining.

The Energy Storage Center will sustain itself for up to 30 years with minimal maintenance and room for additional battery modules and containers as technology advances and changes.

"We know there has been volatility in customers' bills and with this innovation and with solar there will be less fuel we need to purchase," Eble said. "That will have positive effects on customers' bills, our company, and that preserves Florida's clean air and natural resources."

FPL has been embroiled in a long-running dispute over its base electric rates. Last month, the Florida Supreme Court concluded state regulators did not adequately justify approval of a settlement that increased base electric rates for Florida Power & Light and ordered a new explanation.

The court sent a battle about the settlement back to the Florida Public Service Commission, saying regulators in a 2021 decision did not meet a legal requirement of showing why the agreement “is in the public interest and results in rates that are fair, just and reasonable.”

The ruling came in challenges to the settlement by the group Floridians Against Increased Rates and a coalition of three other organizations, Florida Rising, the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida and the League of United Latin American Citizens of Florida. They have argued that the settlement was not in the public interest and that some parts of it violated state law.

FPL reached the four-year settlement in 2021 with the state Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers in utility issues, and other parties including the Florida Retail Federation, the Florida Industrial Power Users Group and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Base-rate issues are closely watched, as they involve billions of dollars, make up large portions of customers’ monthly bills and help determine how much profit that utilities can earn.

This article includes reporting from the News Service of Florida.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Take a look at Florida Power & Light's Manatee Clean Energy Center