Duke Energy Florida announces two new solar projects near Tampa

Both set to clock in at 75 MW, the projects are a part of the utility’s bigger goal of quadrupling the amount of in-service solar on its system over the next four years.

March 15, 2021 Tim Sylvia

Image: Duke Energy

Duke Energy Florida announced the locations for its next two utility-scale solar projects, both set to clock in at a touch under 75 MW.

The Fort Green Power Plant will be built on around 500 acres in Hardee County, southeast of Tampa, and will consist of roughly 265,000 solar panels, using a fixed-tilt racking system. The Bay Trail Solar Power Plant will be built on 500 acres in Citrus County, north of Tampa, and will consist of around 197,000 tracking bifacial solar panels.

Specific manufacturers for the modules, racking, and trackers were not released.

Both plants are being developed as part of Duke Energy Florida’s commitment to quadruple the amount of in-service solar on its system over the next four years. The utility currently has more than 900 MW of solar generation under construction or in operation.

According to Duke, the Bay Trail facility is the site of a future mining operation and the Fort Green site is a former phosphate mine.

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