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Energizing Greater Daytona and Florida

Duke Energy, FPL commit to clean energy and decarbonization.

By Kim Madlom on May 2, 2023

Duke Energy’s DeBary Solar Power Plant
Duke Energy Florida

Two energy companies serving the Greater Daytona region are innovating to bring cleaner resources onto the grid that will help meet customer needs while also expanding the diversity of energy generation across the state.

Duke Energy Florida has approximately 1.9 million retail accounts, bringing electricity to more than 4 million people and businesses in 35 counties. The company is making continued investments to modernize the energy grid, generate cleaner energy and create a smarter energy future.

In 2022, Duke Energy Florida achieved a significant milestone by completing 700 megawatts of new solar projects, delivering on its $1 billion commitment to build 10 new cost-effective facilities from 2018 through 2022 in Florida.

The company also announced that more Florida solar projects are coming with an additional 750 megawatts of solar generation online by mid-2024 through its community solar program, Clean Energy Connection. Its near-term solar generation portfolio represents an over $2 billion investment, about 1,500 megawatts of emission-free generation and approximately 5 million solar panels by mid-2024.

Duke Energy’s Vision Florida Pilot Program also plans to test innovative projects such as emergency relief microgrids and a floating solar pilot, among others, to prepare the power grid for a clean energy future.

“We continue to deliver on our promise to build a cleaner, brighter energy future for our customers. Over the next decade, the company will continue to make innovative and targeted investments in additional solar power plants, battery storage technology, community solar, transportation electrification and a modernized power grid to help meet customers’ needs for diverse, reliable energy solutions.”

Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president

Real Zero

As the nation’s largest electric utility, Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) serves more customers and sells more power than any other utility, providing clean, affordable, reliable electricity to more than 12 million people.

FPL operates one of the cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S. and, in 2022, won the ReliabilityOne® National Reliability Award for the seventh time in the last eight years. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc., a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, corporate responsibility and diversity.

Through the Real Zero plan announced in 2022, FPL and NextEra Energy are working to eliminate carbon emissions from their operations by 2045, leveraging low-cost renewables to drive energy affordability for customers.

The company calls Real Zero the most ambitious carbon emissions reduction goal ever set by an energy producer and the sector’s only one not to require carbon offsets for success. The plan would generate only carbon-emissions-free energy from a diverse mix of wind, solar, battery storage, nuclear, green hydrogen and other renewable sources.

Over the last 20 years, FPL has improved its carbon emissions rate by 40%, resulting in an emissions profile that today is already 28% below the national average. As part of Real Zero, FPL’s goal is to reach 100% decarbonization by 2045.

Power of the Sun

Today, FPL generates nearly 4,000 megawatts of solar from approximately 15 million solar panels. By 2045, FPL would significantly expand its solar capacity, increasing the amount of solar generation to more than 90,000 megawatts from hundreds of millions of solar panels.

Achieving Real Zero will add more than 50,000 MW of battery storage to FPL’s grid, up from 500 MW today. This energy storage will store and deploy solar power when the sun isn’t shining, such as in the evening when demand rises as customers return home.

“FPL’s Real Zero goal represents a continuation of what we’ve long done for our customers – making disciplined and proven long-term investments in low-cost, clean and reliable technology while keeping customer bills affordable and well below the national average,” says Eric Silagy, chairman and chief executive officer of FPL.

“This isn’t a plan to plant trees or purchase offsets, but rather would be a complete elimination of our incremental carbon emissions in Florida to the benefit of our customers, a clean environment and the state’s growing economy,” Silagy says. “Successful implementation of our plan would be a literal game changer for our customers, for Florida and for any other utilities who want to walk with us as we work toward achieving Real Zero.”

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