Duke Energy Florida's first solar power plant in Bay County delivers clean, renewable energy to customers

• Sandy Creek is 1 of 8 solar sites built in north Florida.
• 74.9-megawatt facility can power 23,000 homes annually at peak production.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its commitment to provide cleaner energy solutions to benefit customers throughout the state, Duke Energy Florida today announced that the first utility-scale solar power plant in Bay County is now operational and delivering power to the electric grid.

"Growing renewable energy in Florida is a top priority for us, and we are proud to complete the first utility-scale solar site in Bay County," said Duke Energy Florida state president Melissa Seixas. "This project will play a major role in our state's transition toward a cleaner energy future and demonstrates how neighbors, businesses and communities can come together to make meaningful impacts that will benefit Florida's environment, energy system and electric customers."

The Sandy Creek Solar Power Plant was built on 625 acres in Bay County, Fla. As the county's first utility-scale solar power plant, the facility brings 74.9 megawatts (MW) of clean energy to the area and consists of approximately 220,000 single-axis tracking solar panels, capable of producing enough electricity to power approximately 23,000 homes annually at peak production.

The new facility is part of Duke Energy Florida's commitment to provide customers with 700 MW of clean energy through the completion of 10 facilities by 2022. These 10 facilities are located throughout Florida, as far south as Highlands County and as far north as Hamilton County. Nine of the 10 facilities are now in service, while the remaining site in Hardee County is under construction and expected to be completed this summer.

With a combined investment of more than $2 billion, Duke Energy Florida's solar generation portfolio will include 25 grid-tied solar power plants, which will benefit all Florida customers and will provide about 1,500 MW of emission-free generation from approximately 5 million solar panels by 2024.

Video of Sandy Creek Solar Power Plant, from drone.

Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 10,300 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 1.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 28,000 people.

Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business and at least a 50% carbon reduction from electric generation by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The 2050 net-zero goals also include Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 emissions. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2022 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' "America's Best Employers" list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Media contact: Audrey Stasko 
Cell: 315.877.3031
Media line: 800.559.3853

SOURCE Duke Energy