Dive Brief:
- Florida Power & Light is seeking more than 1,000 MW of new generation, and Argus Media reports that while the utility is favoring a gas-fired solution the request for proposals does not target a specific fuel.
- The utility expects its customer base to grow by about 300,000 in the next five years, increasing energy demand significantly and requiring new generation.
- Earlier this year FPL also announced a plan to significantly expand its solar generation, installing more than 1 million panels at three solar facilities.
Dive Insight:
While most utilities across the nation are dealing with stagnant or declining load growth, Florida Power & Light is making plans to expand.
As the state continues to recover from the recession, FPL expects its customer base to rise from about 4.7 million customers to 5 million — and with that prediction, has issued an RFP for 1,052 MW of new capacity to come online in the middle of 2019.
While the request does not target a specific fuel, Argus points out that the utility said earlier this year it anticipates gas-fired generation will be the most effective. But that said, in January the NextEra Energy-owned company announced a plan to triple solar capacity by the end of next year, adding about 225 MW to the 110 MW already in the utility's portfolio.
The utility also recently announced it intends to purchase a coal-fired plant, but in that instance FPL plans to turn around and shut the facility down. Shuttering the 250-MW Cedar Bay Generating Plant Cedar Bay Generating Plant will save consumers about $70 million and prevent nearly 1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
