D3Energy Unveils Nation's Only Exclusive Statewide Floating Solar Lease

MIAMI, May 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- D3Energy, the U.S. leader in floating solar, today unveiled its exclusive statewide master lease with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).  Under the lease, D3Energy holds sole rights to develop floating photovoltaic systems on FDOT stormwater ponds within state highway rights-of-way. The arrangement unlocks a new class of clean energy infrastructure on "land" the state already manages — without taking farmland, conservation land, or developable real estate.

The company's inaugural project under the framework — a floating solar array on an FDOT pond in Orlando, developed in partnership with Orlando Utilities Commission — was fully commissioned earlier this year. With the framework validated end-to-end, D3Energy is now making this opportunity available to partners across Florida.

"In Florida, the bottleneck on new solar is rarely capital or technology — it's available land. This lease solves that at the state level," said Stetson Tchividjian, Managing Director of D3Energy. "It took years of work with FDOT to get here. With our first project now in the water and operating, we're ready to roll this out to partners across the state."

Unlike most solar projects that take a site-by-site approach, the FDOT master lease consolidates statewide site access under a single agreement. The structure replaces piecemeal procurement with one master framework for FDOT coordination, eliminating the fragmentation that has slowed clean energy deployment in the state.

D3Energy estimates the FDOT pond inventory can support more than 1 gigawatt of floating photovoltaic capacity statewide — enough to power over 200,000 Florida homes, while saving roughly 5,000 acres of Florida land from being converted to ground-mount solar. The arrangement also generates recurring lease revenue for the State of Florida, turning passive infrastructure into a new revenue stream at no cost to taxpayers.

For Florida's investor-owned and municipal utilities the lease puts new generation where the demand already is — on ponds alongside the substations, highways, and customers it will serve. The result: faster deployment, lower interconnection costs, and clean energy that complements rather than competes with Florida's land uses.

About D3Energy
D3Energy is a solar developer exclusively focused on floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems — solar arrays installed on water bodies. With more completed FPV projects than any other developer in the United States, the company partners with utilities, municipalities, and private enterprises to bring solar online without consuming additional land.

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SOURCE D3Energy