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Four New Solar Plants to Deliver Clean, Cost-Effective Energy for Florida

| By Gerald Ondrey

Black & Veatch (Overland Perk, Kan.; www.bv.com) has been selected to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services on four solar-energy projects for Florida Power & Light (FPL). The plants are part of an extensive renewable energy program designed to help deliver additional electric supplies to meet increasing population and business growth in the region. The combined output of the projects will provide enough electricity to serve about 90,000 homes with clean power.

Each plant will be capable of generating 74.5 MW of electricity. The Barefoot Bay, Blue Cypress and Loggerhead solar plants are being constructed in the Vero Beach area, while the Hammock plant is located just east of Fort Myers. They represent the second series of projects developed for FPL by Black & Veatch. In 2016, FPL tripled its Florida solar capacity when Black & Veatch successfully constructed three 74.5-MW plants.

The project sites range from 400 to 600 acres with a combined total of more than one million solar panels to be installed. Each solar plant requires no water supplies in its operation and produces zero air emissions that impact the environment. The plants also benefit FPL’s customers by creating fuel savings to offset new build construction costs.

The new solar plants are being constructed concurrently with the final plant to begin operation by the end of 2017. Construction work is being handled by Overland Contracting Inc., a Black & Veatch company.

“Black & Veatch is building on the success of the 2016 FPL solar projects in support of FPL’s vision to provide its customers with affordable, clean and sustainable energy for generations to come,” says Troy Ochoa, project manager, Black & Veatch. “These new solar facilities build on our vast experience in the expanding renewable energy markets across the U.S. and globally.”