The World’s First Hybrid Solar Energy Center

The state of Florida is leaping and bounding into the future to make improvements for the next generations with emission-free solar power and other renewable sources, reducing the amount of fossil fuels used.

Florida Power Group, the parent company to Florida Power and Light (FP&L), began building the Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center, the World’s first hybrid solar energy center, in December 2008. It was completed (ahead of schedule and millions of dollars under budget) and put into operation in December 2010. The facility is being looked at world-wide as it’s the first hybrid solar facility that connects to an already existing combined-cycle natural gas power plant. It is located in Indiantown, Florida – a little bit north of West Palm Beach – where it spans 500 acres. When in use, this facility gives FP&L the ability to supplement its natural gas power plant with solar energy, which in turn means less burning of fossil fuels and a lower carbon footprint. It has been estimated to save customers about $178 million over its lifetime.

Its field of mirrors moves to greet the sun at sunrise each morning to capture its rays and harness its energy. Over 190,000 mirrors focus the sunlight onto a thin tube that’s filled with liquid. That liquid gets heated up to 740 degrees; it then gets piped over to the neighboring power plant where it goes on to create steam and powers a turbine to create electricity.

That electricity that’s created is enough to power more than 11,000 homes. It’s sort of like how a hybrid car works – it burns less fuel to save you money on gas and it aims to maximize power while reducing the need for gas. This plant saves fuel costs by using free energy from the sun.

• It’s the biggest solar thermal power plant, at 75 megawatts, in the eastern U.S.
• Construction started December 2008 and it was completed ahead of schedule (December 2010) and $75 million under budget.
• The sun’s energy is harnessed with the use of over 190,000 mirrors.
• The facility spans 500 acres at the Martin Power Plant.
• The annual estimated power generation is said to be 155,000 megawatt hours (which is enough to power around 11,000 homes).
• The facility will reduce the use of fossil-fuel by about forty-one billion cubic feet of natural gas and six hundred thousand (600,000!) barrels of oil over its lifetime.
• It’ll save FPL customers $178 million over its lifetime.
• The facility will also prevent nearly three million tons of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere, which is equal to removing 18,700 cars from the streets each year for thirty years!