FPL battery storage technology at Suwannee County Solar Energy Center
FPL Photo Submitted
By Jack Eble - Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) recently unveiled a solar-powered battery storage system located at the FPL Echo River Solar Energy Center in Live Oak, Suwannee County, Fla.
The company says battery storage enables the more than 178,000 FPL customers in northeast Florida, as well as FPL customers across the state, to benefit from solar energy when the sun isn’t shining, like at night or during inclement weather.
“Battery storage will play a key role in Florida’s energy future as FPL continues to make smart, long-term investments in clean energy technologies,” said Stevany Cole, FPL project developer. “Solar energy combined with battery storage helps us deliver reliable and clean energy for our customers without using fuel, thus furthering energy independence for the Sunshine State.”
The battery storage system has a 30-megawatt (MW) capacity, which is the equivalent of 7 million iPhone batteries. With 10 units on site and roughly 400 batteries per container, this battery storage system can power approximately 27,000 FPL customer homes for two hours.
The battery system stores solar power generated by the FPL Echo River Solar Energy Center, which was completed in the summer of 2020. The 74.5 MW solar energy center is capable of powering approximately 15,000 FPL customer homes with clean, zero-emissions energy. In all, FPL operates 50 solar energy centers throughout the Sunshine State, including 11 in northeast Florida.
A similar battery system is operational at the FPL Sunshine Gateway Solar Energy Center located nearby, in Columbia County.
In Parrish, Manatee County, Fla., FPL operates the world’s largest solar-powered battery, the FPL Manatee Energy Storage Center. With more than 130 units on site and roughly 400 batteries per container, this battery system has a 409-MW capacity, which is the equivalent of 100 million iPhone batteries. The Manatee Energy Storage Center can power approximately 329,000 homes for two hours.
FPL is in the midst of America’s largest solar buildout, which includes 16 more solar energy centers currently under construction. Two of these new FPL solar energy centers under construction are in northeast Florida: one in Clay County and the other in Putnam County.
The company says these investments in clean energy sources are a continuation of its modernization journey of more than two decades, replacing old, inefficient power plants with highly efficient, cleaner and more cost-effective forms of power generation. Since 2001, the company says it has saved customers more than $12.4 billion in fuel costs and avoided more than 180 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
FPL Photo Submitted
FPL Photo Submitted
