By Danielle Sempsrott
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
While NASA’s Kennedy Space Center maintains a crucial role in furthering the nation’s space exploration program, it also remains a leader in ensuring Earth’s environment is protected for future generations to come. Most recently, Kennedy partnered with Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) to develop the Discovery Solar Energy Center – a 491-acre, 74.5-megawatt solar site capable of powering about 15,000 homes per year.
“We’re both pioneers in innovation, we’re both leading on the technology fronts, and we have a long history of partnering in clean energy,” FPL Project Manager Scott Scovill said of the relationship between Kennedy and FPL.
Named after the space shuttle, the FPL Discovery Solar Energy Center features an estimated 250,000 solar panels, all feeding directly into FPL’s electricity grid for distribution to the company’s existing commercial and residential customers.
“When we name our solar energy centers, we typically look to the surrounding community and local environmental features for a name that pays homage to the land where the project will be constructed. At the Kennedy Space Center, the choice was difficult given the long and proud history of the space program,” Scovill said. “We selected Discovery Solar Energy Center because we were inspired by the shuttle program and how it advanced our understanding of space and pioneered cutting-edge technology for the benefit of all.”
The site, located just outside the spaceport’s main gate, was first identified as an appropriate location for solar in the early 2000s, when teams with Kennedy’s Energy and Water Conservation Program, along with Master Planning, conducted a major assessment to determine which plots of land and developed areas could be used for solar initiatives.
“FPL, a NextEra company, has the same goal that we do in that we’re looking to be in the business of renewables and clean energy,” said Cory Taylor, electric utility contracting officer representative for Kennedy. “NextEra is one of the world’s largest generators of clean, renewable energy, and with us looking to be a renewable, sustainable center, it’s a win/win for projects such as this.”
Prior to its development, the site contained old orange groves that had become dormant after freezes in the 1980s and 1990s, allowing the area to become overgrown with Australian pine and Brazilian pepper trees – invasive species to Florida. With this large piece of land available, and FPL’s solar expansion underway, Kennedy quickly learned they shared some similar objectives.
In exchange for the land, FPL will make annual payments for a 32-year lease, which Kennedy can allocate to maintenance, capital revitalization, real property improvement, and energy-reduction projects as needed.
“Kennedy is contributing to that culture of clean energy by having a utility company take advantage of a resource that’s precious, such as land, and then collecting payments that we can reuse and reinvest into our vision of securing America’s future in space,” Taylor said.
Discussions began in late 2017. FPL worked with Kennedy to obtain the proper permitting and lease agreement from 2019 to 2020 and, by summer 2020, the site was under full construction. FPL expects to have the solar center up and running by May 2021 and, once operational, it will reduce carbon emissions equivalent to taking 17,500 cars off the road annually.
“The solar center is leading the state to go to cleaner energy sources and helping to reduce the state’s carbon footprint, so it’s very exciting to me,” said Jennifer Hill, Kennedy’s Energy and Water Conservation Program manager. “I am ready to see this big, audacious project complete and working.”
One of seven solar centers currently under construction across the state, the Discovery Solar Energy Center will serve FPL’s SolarTogether Program – an initiative that allows existing customers to reap the benefits of solar without having it installed on their business or home.
FPL Discovery is just one of 20 solar centers that will support SolarTogether – the nation’s largest community solar program. FPL has nearly 40 solar energy centers operating throughout the state – most of which are generating 74.5 megawatts each of clean energy, the same amount Discovery Solar Energy Center will produce once operational.
Taylor hopes this new solar center will also inspire employees and visitors when entering the Florida spaceport.
“When you drive by now, you just see a sea of solar panels,” he said. “We at Kennedy have taken advantage of the opportunity to be the best environmental stewards of our land in the best possible way, and I’m excited that this might encourage people to work and push themselves to contribute in their home life as well.”