Dive Brief:
- Gulf Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, asked the Florida Public Service Commission to approve its purchase of 180 MW from the Kingfisher Wind project in Oklahoma. It would be the first power purchase agreement (PPA) for wind in Florida.
- Kingfisher Wind, being developed by Apex Clean Energy, would comprise some 5% of Gulf Power’s resource mix by providing enough electricity for an estimated 50,700 homes annually. It is scheduled to go online by Dec. 31
- This would be Gulf Power's fifth renewables project. The first four are the Perdido Landfill Gas-to-Energy Facility and three solar energy projects to be built in partnership with the U.S. military beginning in February 2016, pending FPSC approval.
Dive Insight:
In conjunction with the Air Force and Navy, Gulf Power has proposed a 30 MW solar energy installation for Eglin Air Force Base, a 40 MW installation for Holley Field, and a 50 MW installation for Saufley Field, to be built by solar developer HelioSage and be online by December 2016.
This wind purchase follows PPAs previously awarded for Oklahoma wind by Southern Company subsidiaries Georgia Power and Alabama Power.
Georgia Power has a 20 year PPA signed in 2013 for 250 MW from Oklahoma’s Blue Canyon II and Blue Canyon VI wind projects, to be delivered beginning in 2016. It is expected to provide enough electricity for over 50,000 Georgia homes.
Alabama Power is now getting 404 MW of wind power from Oklahoma’s Buffalo Dunes Wind Project and Chisholm View Wind Project through PPAs signed and approved by regulators in 2012. It is providing electricity for an estimated 115,000 Alabama homes.
These commitments suggest a significant inflection point for Southern Company, which has traditionally been reliant on fossil fuels.
