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Power generation

FPL generates 25 gigawatts of energy with a diverse mix of fuels. FPL obtains most of its electricity from natural gas, followed by Nuclear power. FPL uses approximately 1.5 billion to 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day to power customers. Florida utilities consumed an average of almost 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day in 2012 for a total annual consumption of more than 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Cape Canaveral Next Generation Energy Center

An 800MW dual fuel facility was built near Cape Canaveral in 1965 to supply power to the new Kennedy Space Center. The original Cape Canaveral power plant was demolished in 2010 to make way for the Cape Canaveral Next Generation Energy Center. The Cape Canaveral Next Generation Energy Center in Sharpes, Florida opened in April 2013. The 1,200MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired facility was 33 percent more efficient than the plant it replaced and produced half the carbon dioxide emissions, 90 percent less pollutants, and had a 50 percent greater capacity. The plant cost $900 million to complete, which was about $140 million under the projected budget.

Port Everglades Next Generation Clean Energy Center

In July 2013, the Port Everglades plant, which began operation in 1960, was demolished to make room for a new combined cycle facility.

Riviera Beach Next Generation Clean Energy Center

The previous Riviera Beach Energy Center, commissioned in 1946, was demolished in June 2011. Construction began in the first quarter of 2012 on the 1,250MW Next Generation Energy Center by Zachry Holdings. The new plant has three 265MW combustion engines and one 500MW steam generator and began service in April 2014.

West County Energy Center

The West County Energy Center began operating in 2009. Before it was built, activists claimed the power plant was a threat to the nearby wildlife refuge and the ecosystem of the Everglades, though they presented no proof of these claims Because the plant uses large amounts of water to cool its turbines which can reach up to 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, activists also argued that millions of gallons of waste water will be deep-well injected below the Floridan aquifer daily, putting a strain on water supplies in South Florida if the power plant was completed. FPL responded stating that the plant reuses water up to six times in the plant. More than a dozen governmental agencies signed off on the plant which was approved by the governor and cabinet.

Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center

Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center is the first hybrid solar facility combining a solar thermal array with a combined cycle natural gas power plant in the world. The 75MW plant began operation in December 2010. The plant has 190,000 mirrors spread over 500 acres.

DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center

The 25MW DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center was completed in October 2009. The plant has has more than 90,000 photovoltaic panels over 235 acres. DeSoto was the largest solar plant in the country in 2010.

Nuclear facilities

In 1965, FPL announced the building of a $100 million nuclear power plant at Turkey Point. The company announced in 2015 that it had started construction on an expansion to the Turkey Point nuclear facility. The expansion of Turkey Point Nuclear facility received criticism from some South Florida mayors over concerns about high water usage, insufficient evacuation zones and increased risks from rising sea levels. FPL responded that they were working to find a solution.

FPL has two nuclear power plants including the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant in St. Lucie, Florida (Hutchinson Island) and Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station. Combined, these two plants produce more than 3,000 megawatts of energy.

Other plants

Two power plants were completed in Martin County in 1994.

In January 2015, FBL announced it was building three solar plants in order to triple its solar capacity as well as a natural-gas fired plant in Okeechobee County. The photovoltaic plants will produce approximately 75MW each. The FPL Citrus Solar Energy Center will be located in DeSoto County, FPL Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center will be in Charlotte County, and FPL Manatee Solar Energy Center in Manatee County will be on the site of an existing fuel-efficient natural gas power plant that FPL operates.

Pipelines

FPL issued a request-for-proposals (RFP) in December 2012 for new natural gas transportation infrastructure into and within Florida. FPL awarded the projects to two firms: Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC and Florida Southeast Connection, LLC. FPL will purchase approximately 400 million cubic feet per day beginning in 2017, and will increase to about 600 million cubic feet per day in 2020.

Sabal Trail Transmission Pipeline, a joint venture of Spectra Energy Corp. and NextEra Energy, Inc., will include nearly 500 miles of interstate natural gas pipeline that will originate in southwestern Alabama and transport natural gas to Georgia and Florida. It will terminate at a new Central Florida Hub south of Orlando, Florida, where it will interconnect with the two existing natural gas pipelines that currently serve central and southern Florida. The Sabal Trail pipeline will be capable of transporting more than 1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to serve local distribution companies, industrial users and natural gas-fired power generators in the Southeast U.S.

Florida Southeast Connection, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy. To connect with FPL’s operations, Florida Southeast Connection will construct a separate, 126-mile pipeline from Sabal Trail’s Central Florida Hub to FPL’s Martin Clean Energy Center in Indiantown, Florida.