Florida Power & Light executives have literally doubled down on their plans to add solar capacity in the coming decade and are now proposing to build nearly 20,000 MW of projects through 2032.
In its recently filed 10-year site plan, FPL leaders have proposed adding 19,966 MW of solar generation across the Sunshine State they say will lower fuel risk for the company’s customers while growing solar’s share of FPL power from about 5% last year to nearly 35% early next decade. The capacity additions being proposed from 2025 to 2032 are more than double those regulators last year approved for FPL to build.
“We believe the expansion of cost-effective solar and storage will provide a valuable hedge for our customers against volatile natural gas prices and meet the electricity demand of FPL's growing customer base with a low-cost generation source.,” CFO Kirk Crews told analysts on a conference call discussing the first-quarter results of NextEra Energy Inc., FPL’s parent company.
FPL finished 2022 with 3,611 MW of solar facilities. The company’s plans to grow that to more than 23,500 MW would take shape via the addition of 268 generation facilities dotted across Florida, each generating 74.5 MW of power. The proposed site plan calls for 30 such projects to be built annually started in 2026.
Alongside those investments, FPL also plans to grow its battery storage network from 469 MW today (at three sites) by 2,000 MW of facilities from 2029 to 2032. The company plans to apply for cost recovery for these investments once it has finalized costs and location details.
In the first three months of 2023, NextEra produced a net profit of nearly $2.1 billion on sales of more than $6.7 billion. Those numbers made for big swings from early 2022 because of results at the company’s renewables subsidiary; adjusted earnings climbed 15% to nearly $1.7 billion.
FPL’s retail sales grew 0.4% year over year during the first quarter, with warmer weather limiting growth even though the utility’s customer base grew 1.1%. Looking to the next few years, Chairman, President and CEO John Ketchum and his team still expect to be able to grow NextEra’s earnings at an annual rate of 6% to 8%.
Other items discussed on NextEra’s April 25 conference call:
- The company’s annual efficiency initiative is expected to generate about $325 million in annual cost savings, which is down slightly from the more than $400 million produced last year.
- Crews said the supply chain for solar panels—which was hamstrung for parts of last year by U.S. Department of Commerce scrutiny of alleged tariff circumvention by some producers—is getting healthier as nearly all of NextEra’s suppliers have begun using wafers and cells made in places other than China. Crews added that his team is in talks to increase domestic production of panels, preferably by placing anchor orders.
Shares of NextEra (Ticker: NEE) were down about 1% to $77.95 in April 25 afternoon trading. Over the past six months, they have risen slightly, growing the company’s market capitalization to nearly $158 billion.
