Construction is underway on the 74.9-megawatt solar plant.

JASPER, Fla. — Duke Energy Florida broke ground last month on its next solar power plant, located in Hamilton County, and announced another facility for Columbia County.

“Together, the Hamilton and Columbia solar power plants are expected to eliminate approximately 645 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions in Florida each year upon commercial operation,” Duke Energy Florida President Catherine Stempien said in a release. “That’s the equivalent of taking 63,000 passenger cars off the road.

“These projects represent our commitment to more fuel diversity in the state and to rapidly expand renewable generation for our Florida customers’ benefit.”

The 74.9-megawatt Hamilton solar plant will consist of 300,000 panels on 565 acres. The facility is located in western Hamilton County, near the Suwannee River State Park and Duke’s existing Suwannee Solar Plant. It is near SW 69th Drive and SW 40th Avenue.

According to Duke, once operational the plant will be able to power more than 20,000 homes at peak production. The facility, which was originally developed by Tradewind Energy, is expected to be finished later this year.

“We are pleased to deliver on the demand for clean, sustainable energy with the Hamilton County Solar Project,” Tradewinds VP of Business Development Jeff James said in a release. “It’s exciting to be part of the continued growth in the industry in addition to facilitating economic development in rural communities.”

Duke also announced July 31 that it will also build a solar plant on 580 acres in Fort White, off of Fry Road. That plant will also produce 74.9 megawatts and will include 245,000 panels. The company expects groundbreaking to occur next year with the plant being operation in March 2020. The site will be developed by Core Solar.

The North Florida projects are first announced as part of Duke’s push to construct 700 MW of solar generation by 2022.

In order to cover the investment cost with the solar plants, Duke also filed a request last week with the Florida Public Service Commission for a rate increase.

Duke said the increase is expected to be less than half a percent for each project.

The Hamilton rate increase would begin in January 2019, according to the release. The Columbia plant increase would begin in April 2020.