Gulf Power — now owned by NextEra, the parent company of FPL — is building its first solely owned solar plant in Jackson County near the small farming community of Jacob City. The details ...
The Site
The Blue Indigo Solar Energy Center is located on 697 acres. The site, says Gulf Power’s Kim Blair, offered affordable land, relatively flat terrain and minimal impact on environmentally sensitive areas.
$246 million
Estimated cost of the project, or $3.30 per installed watt.
Scale
Installation of more than 300,000 solar panels will generate some 250 temporary jobs. The plant is scheduled to be finished next spring.
Generation
The plant will generate 74.5 megawatts, enough to power about 15,000 homes. When the plant is operational, renewables will represent 11% of Gulf Power’s energy mix. In 2017, Gulf Power partnered with Coronal Energy and the Department of Defense to complete three solar plants spanning 940 acres on three Northwest Florida military installations. The combined solar fields generate 120 megawatts.
On the Horizon
In addition to Blue Indigo, Gulf Power has two 74.5-megawatt solar energy centers in development: Blue Springs Solar Energy Center, also in Jackson County, and Cotton Creek Solar Energy Center in north Escambia County.
Read more in Florida Trend's November issue.
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