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Released April 22, 2022 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida) may regret that it became involved with the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline under construction between West Virginia and Virginia. In the just-passed first quarter of 2022, the company said it will exit the project, which has been plagued with problems, challenges and cost overruns since it began; hence, a $653 million impairment charge for exiting the project made its way into the company's first-quarter financial results. However, the company isn't letting the impairment charge hinder its plans for the power sector. NextEra is continuing one of the largest buildouts of wind, solar and battery storage of any U.S. power company.
NextEra began reevaluating its position in Mountain Valley about midway through the first quarter after the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a government permit allowing the pipeline to pass through the Jefferson National Forest on the West Virginia-Virginia border as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's assessment of the pipeline's impact on two species of endangered fish. NextEra decided to exit the project, helping bring its first-quarter earnings from $1.66 billion in first-quarter 2021 to a net loss of $451 million in the corresponding quarter of 2022. Adjusted earnings, which take the impairment charge into account, were $1.45 billion in the recently passed quarter, compared with $1.33 billion in first-quarter 2022. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence Pipeline Project Database can click here for the reports related to the Mountain Valley project.
For further information, see February 21, 2022, article - NextEra Energy Re-Evaluates Role in Mountain Valley Pipeline, Records $800 Million Charge and February 8, 2022, article - New Legal Hurdles Cast Doubt on Mountain Valley Pipeline Completion Date.
With the pipeline project fading into the rearview mirror, NextEra is stepping up its game in the renewable energy sector, with plans for two of its major subsidiaries, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) and its nationwide company NextEra Energy Resources, to install large amounts of wind, solar and battery storage.
FPL already has achieved a milestone by having already completed all of its solar projects with a 2022 in-service date. FPL installed approximately 450 megawatts (MW) of solar power in the first quarter. In a Thursday earnings conference call with analysts, NextEra Chief Financial Officer Kirk Crews said, "FPL now owns and operates more than 3,600 MW of solar, which is the largest solar portfolio of any utility in the country."
But FPL's solar construction isn't letting up. The company plans to kick off a series of 75-MW solar facilities in Florida this year and next. Examples include the First City Solar Energy Center in Pensacola. Construction is expected to kick off this summer for completion early next year. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Power Project Database can click here for the report.
FPL also plans to keep up its Florida solar buildout beyond 2023. It recently filed 10-year site plans for solar projects totaling 9,500 MW of capacity and is planning 3,200 MW of new battery storage capacity by 2031.
FPL also is launching a green hydrogen pilot program to investigate the fuel's use in combined-cycle plants currently burning natural gas. Crews said, "We intend to build an approximately 25-MW electrolysis system at our Okeechobee Clean Energy Center that will be powered entirely by solar energy from a nearby site. The pilot is designed to test, in practice, the concept of replacing natural gas with green hydrogen as fuel for combined-cycle unit use." Subscribers can click here for the detailed report.
The hydrogen project may eventually give a low-carbon boost to one of FPL's largest projects, the Dania Beach Clean Energy Center, a natural gas-fired, combined-cycle plant under construction in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Crews said work on the 1,200-MW facility was progressing well and the plant is expected to go into service later this year. Subscribers can click here for the report.
Outside of Florida, NextEra's renewable arm, NextEra Energy Resources, continues building solar, wind and battery storage throughout the U.S. Such projects include Phase I of the Clearwater Energy Windfarm near Forsyth, Montana. The project will use more than 130 2.5-MW and 2.8-MW wind turbines to generate 365 MW. Construction kicked off in early 2021 and is expected to be completed in fourth-quarter 2022. Subscribers can click here for the report.
Solar projects include the Dunns Bridge solar farm near Tefft, Indiana, which will use 900,000 solar panels for a nameplate capacity of 265 MW, and the 250-MW Neptune solar farm near Pueblo, Colorado, which will include 125 MW of battery energy storage. Both projects are expected to be completed by the end of this year. Subscribers can click here for a report on the Dunns Bridge project and here for a report on the Neptune project.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
NextEra began reevaluating its position in Mountain Valley about midway through the first quarter after the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a government permit allowing the pipeline to pass through the Jefferson National Forest on the West Virginia-Virginia border as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's assessment of the pipeline's impact on two species of endangered fish. NextEra decided to exit the project, helping bring its first-quarter earnings from $1.66 billion in first-quarter 2021 to a net loss of $451 million in the corresponding quarter of 2022. Adjusted earnings, which take the impairment charge into account, were $1.45 billion in the recently passed quarter, compared with $1.33 billion in first-quarter 2022. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence Pipeline Project Database can click here for the reports related to the Mountain Valley project.
For further information, see February 21, 2022, article - NextEra Energy Re-Evaluates Role in Mountain Valley Pipeline, Records $800 Million Charge and February 8, 2022, article - New Legal Hurdles Cast Doubt on Mountain Valley Pipeline Completion Date.
With the pipeline project fading into the rearview mirror, NextEra is stepping up its game in the renewable energy sector, with plans for two of its major subsidiaries, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) and its nationwide company NextEra Energy Resources, to install large amounts of wind, solar and battery storage.
FPL already has achieved a milestone by having already completed all of its solar projects with a 2022 in-service date. FPL installed approximately 450 megawatts (MW) of solar power in the first quarter. In a Thursday earnings conference call with analysts, NextEra Chief Financial Officer Kirk Crews said, "FPL now owns and operates more than 3,600 MW of solar, which is the largest solar portfolio of any utility in the country."
But FPL's solar construction isn't letting up. The company plans to kick off a series of 75-MW solar facilities in Florida this year and next. Examples include the First City Solar Energy Center in Pensacola. Construction is expected to kick off this summer for completion early next year. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Power Project Database can click here for the report.
FPL also plans to keep up its Florida solar buildout beyond 2023. It recently filed 10-year site plans for solar projects totaling 9,500 MW of capacity and is planning 3,200 MW of new battery storage capacity by 2031.
FPL also is launching a green hydrogen pilot program to investigate the fuel's use in combined-cycle plants currently burning natural gas. Crews said, "We intend to build an approximately 25-MW electrolysis system at our Okeechobee Clean Energy Center that will be powered entirely by solar energy from a nearby site. The pilot is designed to test, in practice, the concept of replacing natural gas with green hydrogen as fuel for combined-cycle unit use." Subscribers can click here for the detailed report.
The hydrogen project may eventually give a low-carbon boost to one of FPL's largest projects, the Dania Beach Clean Energy Center, a natural gas-fired, combined-cycle plant under construction in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Crews said work on the 1,200-MW facility was progressing well and the plant is expected to go into service later this year. Subscribers can click here for the report.
Outside of Florida, NextEra's renewable arm, NextEra Energy Resources, continues building solar, wind and battery storage throughout the U.S. Such projects include Phase I of the Clearwater Energy Windfarm near Forsyth, Montana. The project will use more than 130 2.5-MW and 2.8-MW wind turbines to generate 365 MW. Construction kicked off in early 2021 and is expected to be completed in fourth-quarter 2022. Subscribers can click here for the report.
Solar projects include the Dunns Bridge solar farm near Tefft, Indiana, which will use 900,000 solar panels for a nameplate capacity of 265 MW, and the 250-MW Neptune solar farm near Pueblo, Colorado, which will include 125 MW of battery energy storage. Both projects are expected to be completed by the end of this year. Subscribers can click here for a report on the Dunns Bridge project and here for a report on the Neptune project.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
