ENR 2018 Top 400 Sourcebook: Solar Rises in Popularity

FPL is building or has built 18 solar plants throughout Florida. Black & Veatch is EPC on several.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BLACK & VEATCH

Solar power is continuing its growth spurt as a favored power-generation source, second only to natural gas in the first half of 2018. According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 2,386 MW of solar was installed through July at 243 different sites in the U.S. In the same time period, 53 new natural gas-fired units were installed, accounting for 10,000 MW of the 14,735-MW total generation brought online in the first half of the year. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), California led installations in the first quarter of 2018, followed by Florida. Growth in the latter’s solar is being driven by Florida Power & Light, which has built or is building 14 solar plants in the state. FPL also announced earlier this year it will build four more plants by mid-2019. Black & Veatch is serving as the EPC contractor on multiple sites, including four projects currently in construction. The company has already built seven sites for FPL. SEIA says that in the short term, the industry is protected from new photovoltaic tariffs because some supply was acquired before the tariffs were put in place. But in the longer term, the association says the impacts will be significant, and several developers have already canceled projects.

Pam Radtke Russell is a New Orleans-based journalist with more than a decade covering energy, environment and climate for ENR, Platts, CQ Roll Call in Washington D.C. and the Times-Picayune in New Orleans.

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