Posted June 05 2020

Duke Energy Florida (DEF) today filed the locations of its three newest solar power plants, completing its 700-megawatt commitment for its Florida customers.

The Duette Solar Power Plant will be built on approximately 520 acres in Manatee County, Fla. Once operational, the 74.5 MW facility will consist of approximately 227,000 single-axis tracking solar panels. Once completed, the estimated cost will be 42 cents per 1,000 kWh for a typical customer.
The Charlie Creek Solar Power Plant will be built on 610 acres in Hardee County, Fla. The 74.9 MW facility will consist of approximately 235,000 single-axis tracking solar panels. Once completed, the estimated cost will be 39 cents per 1,000 kWh for a typical customer.
The Archer Solar Power Plant will be built on 630 acres in Alachua County, Fla. This 74.9 MW facility will consist of approximately 220,000 single-axis tracking solar panels. Once completed, the estimated cost will be 32 cents per 1,000 kWh for a typical customer.

All three solar power plants are expected to be finished in late 2021. The Archer, Duette, and Charlie Creek solar power plants will complete Duke Energy Florida’s commitment to customers to provide 700 MW of clean energy by 2022.

Duke Energy Florida currently has more than 500 MW of solar generation under construction or in operation, excluding the sites announced today. The company is investing an estimated $1 billion to construct or acquire a total of 700 MW of solar power facilities from 2018 through 2022 in Florida and is planning to reach a total of almost 1,700 MW of solar generation over the next 10 years.

Duke Energy Florida recently completed two other facilities:

The Columbia Solar Power Plant in Columbia County, Fla., began serving customers on March 17, 2020. The facility is 74.9 MW with 245,000 solar panels.
The DeBary Solar Power Plant in Volusia County, Fla., began serving customers on May 14, 2020. The facility is 74.5 MW with 300,000 panels.

And in January, the energy company announced it would build the Twin Rivers Solar Power Plant in Hamilton County and the Santa Fe Solar Power Plant in Columbia County.

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