• Exclusive Content
  • Events
  • Endeavor Business Media Energy
    1. Renewables

    Duke Energy exploring Floating Solar on Cooling Pond at Florida Power Plant

    March 20, 2023
    Covering roughly two acres of water surface on an existing cooling pond at the Duke Energy Hines Energy Complex in Bartow, the nearly 1-MW pilot project will feature more than 1,800 floating solar modules
    Image credit SolarWriter, CC BY-SA 3.0., via Wikimedia Commons
    Image credit SolarWriter, CC BY-SA 3.0., via Wikimedia Commons

    Duke Energy Florida plans to commence construction of its inaugural floating solar array pilot in Polk County, Florida later this month.

    Covering roughly two acres of water surface on an existing cooling pond at the Duke Energy Hines Energy Complex in Bartow, the nearly 1-MW pilot project will feature more than 1,800 floating solar modules.

    According to the utility, crews will construct and assemble the module floating system on land in segments before anchoring it in the water. The project is expected to take approximately five to six months.

    The pilot forms part of Duke Energy's Vision Florida program, an initiative aimed at trialing innovative projects, including microgrids and battery energy storage, among others, to get the power grid ready for a clean energy future.

    Read our latest ET Newsletter: Stories on HVO in Cold Chain Transport, E-Mobility and more

    “We’re excited to get hands-on experience with Duke Energy Florida’s first floating solar project at one of our own power plant sites,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “Unique pilots like floating solar are helping us better understand the capabilities of innovative clean energy technologies that can benefit our Florida customers and communities now and in the future.”

    Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, supplies electricity to 1.9 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.

    Other U.S. power utilities, such as Orlando Utilities Commission, also have tried floating solar projects to utilize non-land surfaces for renewable energy. A small number of floating solar projects also have been constructed in other countries such as Japan, France and China.

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.