75-megawatt solar plant to power "first solar city" in Florida

Given that Florida has accurately been coined The Sunshine State, it's not at all shocking to hear that America's first "solar city" will be built in the state's southwest corner. Or, at least that's the plan. According to a new report, West Palm Beach-based Kitson & Partners is currently developing a new city near Charlotte County, which will get juiced by a massive 75-megawatt solar plant. Said plant will cost around $300 million to build and will be installed by Florida Power & Light; if all goes well, homes will begin construction on a sizable plot of land dubbed Babcock Ranch by 2011. If things don't go so well, we're told that the actual power plant will still be erected and fed into the larger grid. In other words, Florida's gettin' some solar power, with or without this newfangled concrete jungle.

[Via Fark]

[Josh @ Apr 11th 2009 4:13AM]

$300 only? I think I'll be ditching my netbook for a Solar power plant! :)

[Carson T. @ Apr 11th 2009 4:43AM]

haha same here.. ditch the netbook and make a hefty profit :D

[Shinigami @ Apr 11th 2009 5:07AM]

I'll take 3!!! ;)

[Kurian @ Apr 11th 2009 8:52AM]

Using the godlike speed of photons to their full advantage, you absorb all the rays at the same time. This makes infrared rays and reflective surfaces useless. This is Florida's, "first solar city".

[hexydes @ Apr 11th 2009 11:32AM]

In for two! Anyone have a code for free shipping? This is indeed a Slick Deal (TM).

[heffeque @ Apr 11th 2009 10:10PM]

Interesting enough is the fact that countries like Spain and Portugal are both using less and less nuclear power. Last year clean energy made up 43% of the energy generated in Portugal. Spain had a pretty high percentage too (don't remember the exact number) and actually exported energy even after closing down two nuclear power plants. The price of the electricity didn't go up either, so... I guess that the point of nuclear electricity being cheaper is nowhere to be found. I know that it's virtually impossible to power a country as big as Spain only with clean energy, but little by little it'll be possible to minimize the usage of non-clean energy, and the Iberian region is definitely proving it so. I hope that the US, Russia and other contaminating countries catch up soon too, for our children's sake.

[richard @ Apr 11th 2009 4:13AM]

All of the tree huggers rejoice. All of the rest of us with more than an ounce of common sense point out that this is the least cost effective way of power! NUCLEAR POWER IDIOTS HEARD OF IT?

[Jay @ Apr 11th 2009 4:28AM]

Leave it to you americans to screw up the world. "Tree huggers"... Haha, very funny.
Unless you know your history - have a look at the malthusian cycles thoughout human history. To think that we are somehow magically exempt from this is the kind of arrogance that could bring us down.

[rube @ Apr 11th 2009 4:41AM]

"$300 million plant by year's end. The utility expects it will provide enough power for Babcock Ranch and beyond. At $4 million per megawatt - FPL estimates the costs to its customers at about 31 cents per month over the life of the project - it should be more than four times as cost-effective as the nuclear reactors FPL is trying to build near the Florida Keys. " - from full article


CORRECTION for Engadget: first sentence shows the real dollar amount.

and to Richard.. read the last sentence

[Dylan @ Apr 11th 2009 4:51AM]

The malthusian cycles are by and large complete rubbish. They are based on variables which are not predictable (i.e. wages, food abundance) and assume that this is directly related to how the population rises and falls. As times move forward and we can easily feed ourselves and fight famine and disease these theories become all but useless, We are exempt from them because they never existed in the first place.

[fanman @ Apr 11th 2009 5:02AM]

lol malthus

[Shinigami @ Apr 11th 2009 5:10AM]

I heard yesterday in the news some other guys are building a $75 million plant based on geothermal energy and it will, too, produce 75mW. Thats $1 million per mW, 4 times more effective. Isn't it better to build those in USA as well?

Also, as far as I know, solar panel production makes so much waste that it negates any "green" effect of their use...........

...Wind power?

[seacow @ Apr 11th 2009 5:34AM]

I'm sure you mean MW not mW, otherwise it would be more efficient to fun it from Clinton powered hamster wheels.

[Argot @ Apr 11th 2009 5:43AM]

You tried your best and failed miserably. The lesson is: never try.

[Jay @ Apr 11th 2009 6:19AM]

@Dylan
Its rubbish because the variables are not predictable? I think Quantum mechainics and chaos theory will be very sorry to hear that. My point is actually exactly that it is unpredictable and we therefore should be careful.

I'm glad to hear you have a way of feeding 30 billion people by 2100. Also, our society depend on more than just the ability to feed people.

I'm not saying a malthusian crisis is inevitable, I'm saying we shouldn't be so arrogant about it.

[Dylan @ Apr 11th 2009 6:53AM]

@Jay

Fair point on the predictables, but it still doesnt make the Malthusian Theroy hold any more weight, its based on incredibly simple principles. If anything we should take China as an example that proves this theroy effectivly wrong. China is overpopulated yet there has been no natural disease or famine to correct this "upset". In the modern world or more accuratly in the modern "first world" we can easily feed our populous, technology and agriculture has advanced to the point where the Malthusian Principles simply dont apply.

p.s. I would also be interested where you learnt that our population would increase by 23 billion souls in the next 90 years. You have to admit thats more than a little off.

[Joe Maki @ Apr 11th 2009 10:10AM]

There are many reasons why most of the world has stopped building nuclear power plants (always over budget, expensive to maintain, potentially catastrophically destructive, no waste disposal solutions). Except for the French, your not French are you?

[NoAndThen @ Apr 11th 2009 10:42AM]

No, Richard, the people building Nuclear Plants without a solid plan for the waste are the idiots. That's why I'm against nuclear power- until we stop being so stupid, and figure out something to do with the waste other than essentially quarantining huge areas for 1000's of years, (yes, much more cost effective than solar power...) then we shouldn't be fucking with it at all. Humans are smart enough to make it work, but too dumb to think in the long term... eventually there'll be so much nuclear waste that we'll have to quarantine all of the Midwest just to store waste.

But yeah, you know, more COST (*not just money*) effective, yeah.

[Gregory Pius @ Apr 11th 2009 10:51AM]

We have five operating reactors in Florida: two at Turkey Point in South Florida at Florida City, one in Crystal River, north of Tampa, and two at the St. Lucie plant south of Melbourne. They haven't blowed up yet. *knock wood* They've been operating quite safely for decades.

[thedeadknight @ Apr 12th 2009 11:49PM]

sunshine is free..so is wind..nuclear power costs money and produces the least amount of electricity

[Kyle B @ Apr 11th 2009 11:46AM]

@NoAndThen

You don't really know how nuclear plants and waste storage operates, do you?

We do have a safe and effective way of storing waste, but instead of properly transporting and storing it deep underground in areas that are already reserved for nuclear use due to testing in the 60's, it sits in rotting containers right outside of the nuclear plants, above ground, and with less regulation than a disposal facility.

[asurroca @ Apr 11th 2009 12:49PM]

And do you think treehuggers are building this power plant? Treehuggers have nothing to do with this. FPL is one of the largest utility companies in the US; they're not spending $300 million on a solar power plant so that more flower children can dance among the trees all day, they're doing it because it's obviously been determined by their bean counters to be profitable... Green energy = profit.

[BigD145 @ Apr 11th 2009 8:56PM]

@OP
Unguarded radioactive waste. Ever heard of it?

[geoffwill @ Apr 11th 2009 11:01PM]

@Heffeque: Typical rates for nuclear power are 0.02 or 0.03 USD per kilowatt hour. This is very cheap.

@ Joe Maki : I think you're being sarcastic.. can't tell.. but I hope so.

@NoAndThen: I'm really sorry but you're horribly mistaken. There are plenty of options for the disposal of nuclear fuels BUT we can't use the most efficient method in the US (like France does) because of silly politics and under-educated people. The most efficient method would be to reprocess the used fuel and stick it back into a particular type of reactor which the French use. HELL, we could even sell it to the French! But no, silly people, uneducated, so stupid, open your eyes. There was ALSO a plan to store the waste in a mountain named Yucca. They have been taking millions of dollars from nuclear companies for YEARS to build this and nothing will ever be built. It was going to be a very fine idea, many technologies to ensure safety. Nothing will ever be built and it is a shame...because people are under-educated and other fuels companies spread fear and mis-information. Instead you stick with pollution spewing coal and wasting away your natural gases which should be used in cars rather than power plants, in power plants it is so inefficient. Then people also complained about shiping the used fuel through their states, using containers so strong, that a TRAIN moving at a significant speed could not even crack the casing. If you're so afraid terrorists will steal that and somehow open it without someone noticing then... maybe you should go back to school and educate yourself.

@BigD145: No, I've never heard of unguarded fuels. Source?

Despite all of this, nuclear is not the answer. Nuclear is a part of the answer. The most diverse source of energies is best, solar, wind, geothermal, everything possible. This will provide for a robust system and will not allow people and companies to monopolize.

[Byzil Mystwing @ Apr 11th 2009 4:21AM]

That's either one cheap solar plant, or someone forgot a modifier.

[sweet greggo @ Apr 11th 2009 4:25AM]

I have a feeling that a certain construction company will be hiring a new estimator soon.

[Sven Vollstag @ Apr 11th 2009 4:27AM]

...any power plant makes back its cost over a designated period of time...
...arguing which is most cost effective is pointless...
...they are all cost negligible in the long run...

[Jay @ Apr 11th 2009 4:31AM]

Ehm, I think your joke is missing a punch line.

[NoAndThen @ Apr 11th 2009 10:44AM]

Yeah, except for right now, where, you know, it costs money. And also, being more cost effective over a longer period of time... just makes it more cost effective, or *CHEAPER* to run.

Did that go right over your head as well?

[MarnBeast @ Apr 11th 2009 12:46PM]

I think he's saying that in the long run, it's worth it to invest in a resource that is more cost effective to maintain and has less of an impact on it's surroundings rather than the immediate cost, if the funding is available.

[Trace @ Apr 11th 2009 4:33AM]

will cost about $300 million and add about 31 cents to the average customer's monthly bill. Among other projects in the years ahead, the company is also working to add 1,200 megawatts of power fueled by natural gas in Palm Beach County and 2,200 megawatts of new nuclear power at Turkey Point.

[Jon @ Apr 11th 2009 4:33AM]

It only costs $300 to make a 75 megawatt plant these days? Give me 10!!!!!

[Alex @ Apr 11th 2009 4:51AM]

I wonder how much wilderness will be cleared out to make room for such a large and enviromentally friendly way of producing electricity...

[brandon williams @ Apr 11th 2009 4:56AM]

None.
They'll just use one of the trailer parks that were destroyed in hurricane Charley.

[Bill @ Apr 11th 2009 6:28AM]

Who cares? I hope they drain 100,000 acres of swampland and then flog a bunch of Sea Cows to death, just for the H*ll of it. Go worship your wilderness elsewhere, Pagan foolz.

[loopyoyo @ Apr 11th 2009 5:02AM]

whoa damn! slickest deal of the century..money to be made here...where do i sign

[Jon @ Apr 11th 2009 5:51AM]

"Given that Florida has accurately been coined The Sunshine State"

...and I'm down under at another Sunshine State...
Hope Oz has something special in the hat too, coz Queensland's power comes from 90% coal...

[nikster @ Apr 11th 2009 6:03AM]

yeah, christ, about time you Ozzies put that ginormous desert that covers most of Oz to good use. plaster it with solar panels and be done with it.

[Jon @ Apr 11th 2009 6:33AM]

If you build all those solar panels so inland there's not much demand, meaning you'll have to build hundreds of kilometres of power cables...

I really hope solar power will be seriously considered coz there's an abundance of sunlight here, and not just a slogan on our number plates as "Queensland - Sunshine State" lol

A cheaper method is to turn heat into energy by boiling water with mirrors focusing their reflections to a centralised point then spin the generator turbines (as oppose to coal boiling water) -- coz it's bloody hot year-round.

[Beastage @ Apr 11th 2009 7:49AM]

@ Jon , that is how solar plants work :)

Most of the power comes from redirecting sunlight to massive heating tower that boils water, some of the power comes from photoelectric cells on the panels.

[Jon @ Apr 11th 2009 8:03AM]

@Beastage

yeah mate I meant reflecting sunlight to boil water vs. solar panels coz the former would be more cost viable in a really large scale (to eventually replace the 90% electricity production from coal in QLD).

[Rishard Chapoteau @ Apr 11th 2009 7:03AM]

Holy crap only $300! Give me 10 of em!

[Beastage @ Apr 11th 2009 7:47AM]

10 people made that joke above you....

[kadajawi @ Apr 11th 2009 7:11AM]

Uhm, is it really smart to build a NEW city in America, where houses are abandoned because their owner can't afford having a house anymore?

[Fade2blac @ Apr 11th 2009 7:23AM]

Florida is both the "Sunshine State" and "Lightning Capital of the World". Some one should make a solar panel that not only collects solar energy but could also be a lightning rod that could harness the electricity's charge.

Sunshine+
Lightning+
?????=
Profit?

[Beastage @ Apr 11th 2009 7:57AM]

Or a freak accident .

[Kwikit @ Apr 11th 2009 7:59AM]

To me, this sounds like the dumbest fucking thing they can do. Granted, most areas of Florida are probably safe from natural disasters, but I would never build any fragile construction in a state known to be in Hurricane Alley, goes through more devastating tear downs than almost any other state, has rain storms like Monsoons, cloud cover and lightning that is frequent enough, and so on. It would seem to be far wiser to build the plan in something like New Mexico and deliver the energy to Florida. Who knows, maybe New Mexico has its own natural disasters. I would not build in Florida unless that area is known to be safe from all that afflicts Florida in general.

[cowabungaCarl @ Apr 11th 2009 10:55AM]

deliver energy from New Mexico to Florida? thats a loooong way to deliver energy

[mr2dxtream @ Apr 11th 2009 8:35AM]

ALL good until KATRINAS Cousins stops by then what ...

[inteller @ Apr 11th 2009 8:45AM]

lots of $1000 kites blowing in the wind that's what.