Power company chooses county in region for new solar power plants

DUETTE — Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy, recently announced east Manatee County will be the site of one of three new solar power plants.

The Manatee County plant will be in Duette, on some 520 acres, according to a statement. Once operational, the 74.5-megawatt facility will consist of approximately 227,000 single-axis tracking solar panels, capable of producing enough electricity to power approximately 23,000 homes at peak production annually, according to a statement.

The two other Duke Energy Florida solar power plants will be built in Hardee and Alachua counties, the release states. During construction, each solar project creates approximately 200 to 300 temporary jobs. All three solar power plants will be owned, operated and maintained by Duke Energy Florida and are expected to be finished in late 2021, the release states.

"The Archer, Duette and Charlie Creek solar power plants will complete Duke Energy Florida's commitment to customers to provide 700 MW of clean, green energy by 2022," Duke Energy Florida state president Catherine Stempien says in the release. "Once operational, our solar power plants will eliminate nearly 3 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year. The sun shines bright here in Florida, and we are committed to making more solar investments in the years to come."

Based in St. Petersburg, Duke Energy Florida owns a diverse generation mix of natural gas, coal and renewables, providing about 10,200 megawatts of owned electric capacity to approximately 1.8 million customers in a 13,000-square-mile service area.