TECO expands solar capabilities

Tampa Electric Co. has opened four new solar plants this month and expects to begin work on its next phase of plant construction early 2024.

TECO says in a statement that the new plants are in Hillsborough County (Dover Solar), Pasco County (Juniper Solar) and Polk County (Alafia Solar and Lake Mabel Solar).

With the four additions, the power company says about 14% of its energy production now “can come from the sun.”

In all, TECO is now capable of producing 1,252 megawatts of electricity — 1.25 gigawatts — which it says is enough to power more than 200,000 homes. It says that since 2017 solar has saved customers more than $200 million in fuel costs.

The company did not offer details on where the next phase of its solar expansion will be built, but said it is expected to begin work in January and that it also has plans to add to that by the end of 2026. 

At that time, TECO says in the statement, it will have more than 1,600 megawatts of solar which is enough to power 260,000 homes and that 17% of its energy will be generated by solar, it says.

Tampa Electric is owned by Emera Inc. out of Canada. According to Emera, the company covers about 800,000 customers in a 2,000 square mile area that includes Hillsborough and parts of Polk, Pasco and Pinellas counties.