Solar contracts totaling 3.25 gigawatts in Virginia and Florida have been announced recently by utilities other than Dominion.
Arlington-based AES, a global power company, will build a 500-megawatt solar farm in Virginia that will double the state’s solar capacity, according to a Microsoft press release; Microsoft will buy most of the solar farm’s power. (Technically the solar farm will be developed by sPower, jointly owned by AES and a Canadian financial firm.)
In a bolder move, Florida-based NextEra Energy has contracted for up to 2.75 gigawatts of solar panels from Jinko Solar over the next four years. NextEra owns Florida Power & Light, the nation’s third-largest electric utility.
A while back, Dominion concluded that 15 gigawatts of solar would save customers $1.5 billion, compared to the utility’s proposed North Anna 3 nuclear reactor. AES, and particularly NextEra, are showing Dominion the way forward on solar.
(Photo: DeSoto Solar Energy Center, a NextEra Energy/ Florida Power & Light solar farm.)
