Wayne T. Price, and Dave Berman

Florida Today

Florida Power & Light Co. is pursuing a plan to build a $116 million solar energy center on the site of a former orange grove just south of Barefoot Bay.

Representatives of the utility have been meeting in recent weeks with community groups in South Brevard County about the plan. On Thursday evening, FPL plans to make a presentation to Brevard County commissioners as part of the utility's request for zoning changes that would clear the way for construction of the facility later this year.

In a presentation last week to the advisory Brevard County Local Planning Agency, representatives of the project said the proposed Barefoot Bay Solar Energy Center would be built on a 462-acre site, and would generate 74.5 megawatts of power, which is enough energy to power about 15,000 homes.

FPL said the solar panels would be built low to the ground, and the operation would be "virtually silent." The utility said the project is designed to avoid or minimize impact to wetlands, drainage and wildlife. The solar center also does not use water or produce waste during its operation, and the solar panels will emit no odors or chemicals.

Last week, FPL commissioned three new solar energy centers in Charlotte, DeSoto and Manatee counties. The utility also announced plans to build eight more 74.5-megawatt solar energy centers by March 2018, including the Barefoot Bay-area plant, at a total cost of about $900 million.

Four of them are expected to be completed by the end of 2017, and the other four, including the Barefoot Bay plant, would be complected by March 1, 2018.

FPL said its customers would pay for the $900 million cost of the eight plants after they went into service.

Combined, the new plants are expected to generate enough energy annually to power about 120,000 homes and produce net savings for FPL customers of $39 million over their operational lifetime. FPL said the net savings are due primarily to the projected reduction in the use of fossil fuels more than offsetting the cost to build the plants.

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Mel Scott, senior business development director for Atkins North America Inc., which is working with FPL to seek regulatory approvals for the project, said it is "very fitting and appropriate" that the proposed solar project would be built on the site of a former orange grove, thus creating a new resource from the sun.

"It's very exciting," said Scott, who is a former assistant Brevard County manager for development and public services.

If the project gets the necessary state and county regulatory approval, Scott said, construction could begin in late spring, and the center could be "producing clean, renewable energy" by early 2018.

FPL said the Barefoot Bay project would create 200 to 250 jobs during construction.

The site is about 450 feet south of Micco Road and west of Fleming Grant Road in unincorporated Brevard, about 1.5 miles west of U.S. 1.

FPL representatives met Jan. 19 with members of the Barefoot Bay Recreation District's board of trustees and area homeowners to discuss the project. The utility reps also went door-to-door with literature about the project.

Last week, there also was a public information session at the local American Legion post.

"I think the trustees were favorable, and I think equally as important, the comments from the assembled multitudes of homeowners were favorable as well," said David Lee Valdina, who lives in Barefoot Bay and arranged for the FPL session at the American Legion post.

"I don't think there is going to be any impact whatsoever on the community," Valdina said, "other than economic, in regards to electric bill. They'll either go down or not go up as much as they would without having a solar farm."

The proposed solar farm would be fairly isolated and surrounded by trees and vegetation, although the property is not far from residential development to the north and east.

The 74.5-megawatt facility would have about 330,000 solar panels. The panels stand about 2 feet off the ground, and typically are 6 to 7 feet tall.

The facility will be designed to convert sunlight via photovoltaic solar arrays into electricity, that then is carried to a nearby collector substation, where the voltage is boosted for transmission through the electric grid for delivery to homes and businesses.

"The character of the area will not be materially or adversely affected by the proposed rezoning or land-use application," FPL said in its application. "Although the solar facility sits near an established neighborhood, it is a remotely monitored facility. Moreover, the facility will not produce emissions, odors, vibration, dust, adverse noise, light pollution or waste products of any kind, and, therefore, will not disrupt the character of the existing neighborhoods."

After construction is completed, the center would operate on its own, with periodic maintenance workers.

"A solar center does not require staff to operate, so it won’t bring more traffic to the area after construction," FPL said in its presentation to Barefoot Bay residents.

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One person, Stacy Moore, filed a written objection to the project with the Brevard County Planning and Development Department. Moore cited concerns about property values, drainage and impact on wildlife related to the proposed solar farm, and called the project "a losing proposition."

"People choose to live in the area because it is affordable and out of the way," Moore wrote. "This farm will also lower property values and will wipe out the wildlife that is on the proposed 460-acre site."

FPL is seeking what's known as a large-scale comprehensive plan amendment from Brevard County — as well as related zoning changes, land use designation changes and a conditional-use permit — to move forward with the project.

On Thursday, the County Commission will be asked to start that process by transmitting the proposed comprehensive plan amendment to the state for review by several agencies. The Local Planning Agency last week unanimously recommended that the County Commission take that step.

Scott said the request is likely to come back to the Local Planning Agency and the County Commission in late-April for final votes.

“With the support of communities across the state, we are advancing smart, affordable clean energy infrastructure, while keeping customer bills low,” FPL President and Chief Executive Officer Eric Silagy said in a statement released Wednesday. “On a per-megawatt basis, these eight new plants will be the lowest-cost solar ever built in Florida and some of the lowest-cost solar ever built in America. Our steadfast commitment to delivering solar cost-effectively directly benefits our customers, our environment and the economy.”

FPL currently operates more than 335 megawatts of solar generating capacity, enough to power 60,000 homes. The includes the 10-megawatt FPL Space Coast Next Generation Solar Energy Center at Kennedy Space Center.

Contact Price at 321-242-3658 or wprice@floridatoday.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @Fla2dayBiz.

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com, on Twitter at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54.

If you go

Brevard County commissioners are scheduled to discuss the proposed Barefoot Bay Solar Energy Center at their meeting that begins at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Brevard County Government Center, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Building C, in Viera.