Florida Power & Light Demolishes Coal Plant to Build Solar Center Near the Site

Florida Power & Light or FPL demolished its last coal-fired plant on July 16. The plant is located in Indiantown Cogeneration Plant in Martin County, at the east of the Everglades.

Just before the plant imploded, FPL CEO Eric Silagy announced that the plant would be replaced with a solar center.

FPL Coal Plant is Demolished

Florida Power & Light's Indiantown coal plant was shut down on Jan. 1, and it was demolished on July 16. This resulted in the 495-foot chimney topping and an 800-foot coal chute collapsing. The demolition was posted on their official YouTube channel.

Just before the coal plant was demolished, Silagy announced to a small group of attendees that the company would build a 75-megawatt solar farm with 300,000 panels on 500 acres near the site.

Silagy stated that they had built more than 40 solar energy centers throughout the state, and they are well on their way to installing more than 30 million solar panels by 2030.

Also Read: Sahara Desert Solar Panels Contributing to Global Warming, Scientists Find Out

FPL won't stop there. With the construction of the solar-powered battery facility and an innovative green hydrogen pilot project, they lead the state and the country in producing reliable, affordable, and better for the environment.

FPL's Solar Plans

Later in 2021, FPL plans to launch the largest solar-powered battery storage facility globally, which is currently under construction in Manatee County, located on the west coast near Sarasota. By 2030, FPL stated that it would add 700 MW of battery storage.

FPL is the biggest energy company in the United States. It has 41 solar energy centers throughout the country with almost 3,000 megawatts of solar capacity.

All of its solar energy centers that have come online in 2021 will also support FPL SolarTogether, the country's largest community solar program.

FPL forecasts that almost 40% of the company's power will be net-zero by 2030. The company has a 30-by-30 plan which means they will install 30 million solar panels by 2030. That plan is more than 40% complete.

The plan will result in 11,700 MW of solar capacity if it hits the target, which is enough energy to power more than 2 million homes.

However, FPL is not eager about going all solar. In 2020, Electrek reported that FPL and the rest of the utilities in Florida tried and failed to roll back the net metering for rooftop solar through a front called Energy Fairness.

Net metering allows residential and commercial customers to generate their own electricity from solar power to sell the electricity they are not using back into the grid.

That can help residents and commercial customers save money, but electric companies believe that they make less money this way. This is the reason why they are so keen to roll net-metering back.

Also, that is why FPL and the rest of the utilities in Florida are so keen to produce their solar power to make money off of the production, distribution, and transmission.

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Written by Sophie Webster