The company has started construction at Hamilton plant in July 2018 and made it operational by 22 December. The project was originally developed by Tradewind Energy and completed by Duke Energy.
The new Hamilton facility is part of company’s strategic, long-term goal to build 700MW of solar energy in Florida by 2022, to ensure residents have increasingly clean and diverse power sources.
DEF currently owns and operates nearly 100MW of solar energy resources throughout its regulated service territory. The plant’s carbon-free power is adequate to supply energy for more than 20,000 households at peak production.
The environment, along with 1.8 million Customers across Duke Energy’s Florida service territory, are now benefiting from approximately 300,000 solar panels that generate clean, renewable energy.
Duke Energy Florida state president Catherine Stempien said: “Duke Energy solar projects bring the greatest amount of renewable energy on line for customers in the most efficient and economical way.
“A Building solar power plant like Hamilton is part of our ongoing strategy to offer sustainable, diverse and smarter energy solutions that our customers have told us they value.”
In 2018, DEF announced its plan to start construction on the Columbia Solar Power Plant in Fort White in 2019.
The 74.9MW Columbia Solar Power facility is expected to be developed by Core Solar and fully operational by March 2020. DEF is expected to own, operate and maintain the facility.
Together, the Hamilton and Columbia solar power plants are anticipated to reduce approximately 645 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions in Florida during their first year of commercial operation. That would equal taking 63,000 passenger cars off the road.
Duke Energy said: “In addition to expanding its solar investments, Duke Energy is making strategic, targeted investments in battery storage technology, transportation electrification to support the growing U.S. adoption of electric vehicles, and a modernized power grid to deliver the diverse and reliable energy solutions customers want and need.”
