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Released November 01, 2016 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)-- NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida) outlined plans on Monday to close a coal-fired plant, complete three solar projects and repower existing windfarms. Industrial Info is tracking $13.91 billion in active NextEra Energy projects.
"Contributions from new investments were the principal driver of growth, and our major activities remain on track to support delivery of roughly 2,500 megawatts (MW) of new contracted renewables projects in 2016," NextEra Chief Financial Officer John Ketchum said during the company's third-quarter earnings conference call. "We continue to execute on our backlog and pursue additional contracted renewable development opportunities, and it was an excellent period of new project origination."
Much of the project activity discussed by Ketchum involved projects of NextEra subsidiary Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) (Juno Beach). Among the projects discussed was the planned closure of the Indiantown Cogeneration facility in Indiantown, Florida. The plant has a contract to supply FPL with energy through 2025, but NextEra plans to purchase the 330-MW coal-fired facility in early 2017 for $451 million. "The transaction is expected to enable early retirement of one of the highest greenhouse gas-emitting power plants in the state, while also providing estimated customer savings of $129 million," said Ketchum.
Ketchum also spoke about the company's renewable energy projects. "Construction has continued to progress well on FPL's three 74.5-MW utility scale solar PV projects that we expect to enter service this year. During the quarter, we were pleased to announce the completed installation of half of the 1 million new solar panels that will comprise these new solar energy centers." The solar farms are the Babcock Ranch solar power plant in Punta Gorda, Florida; the Manatee solar power plant in Parrish, Florida; and the Citrus solar power plant in Arcadia, Florida. Each project has an estimated total investment value of $138 million. Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kansas) is acting as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor on the projects, which use SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) (San Jose, California) technology.
The company also intends to take advantage of the federal government's wind production tax credit (PTC) by performing wind repower projects. Explaining the Internal Revenue Service guidance for repowering projects, Ketchum said, "The guidance provides for an '80/20 rule,' by which a repowered wind turbine may qualify for a new 10-year PTC period if the cost of the new equipment incorporated into the turbine is at least 80% of the turbine's total value." For more information on wind repowering projects, see September 6, 2016, article - Repowering Windfarms Still Earns Production Tax Credits.
"Today, we are announcing plans to pursue additional repowering opportunities for roughly 1,300 MW to be completed in the 2017-2018 timeframe," said Ketchum. "We expect to invest approximately $875 million of capital to complete these repowering projects, and earnings from the projects are expected to be comparable to similar new-build opportunities with significantly less capital investment. ...We expect this opportunity set to continue to grow to support a total of at least $2.0 to $2.5 billion of capital deployment opportunities for repowerings over the next four years, with a greater portion of incremental opportunities expected to become actionable beyond 2018."
One such repower project being tracked by Industrial Info is NextEra's 40.8-MW repower of the Altamont Pass Windfarm I in Livermore, California. The project entails removal of existing turbines and installation of 24 1.7-MW turbines. The project is expected to kick next summer and be completed by the first quarter of 2018.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
"Contributions from new investments were the principal driver of growth, and our major activities remain on track to support delivery of roughly 2,500 megawatts (MW) of new contracted renewables projects in 2016," NextEra Chief Financial Officer John Ketchum said during the company's third-quarter earnings conference call. "We continue to execute on our backlog and pursue additional contracted renewable development opportunities, and it was an excellent period of new project origination."
Much of the project activity discussed by Ketchum involved projects of NextEra subsidiary Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) (Juno Beach). Among the projects discussed was the planned closure of the Indiantown Cogeneration facility in Indiantown, Florida. The plant has a contract to supply FPL with energy through 2025, but NextEra plans to purchase the 330-MW coal-fired facility in early 2017 for $451 million. "The transaction is expected to enable early retirement of one of the highest greenhouse gas-emitting power plants in the state, while also providing estimated customer savings of $129 million," said Ketchum.
Ketchum also spoke about the company's renewable energy projects. "Construction has continued to progress well on FPL's three 74.5-MW utility scale solar PV projects that we expect to enter service this year. During the quarter, we were pleased to announce the completed installation of half of the 1 million new solar panels that will comprise these new solar energy centers." The solar farms are the Babcock Ranch solar power plant in Punta Gorda, Florida; the Manatee solar power plant in Parrish, Florida; and the Citrus solar power plant in Arcadia, Florida. Each project has an estimated total investment value of $138 million. Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kansas) is acting as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor on the projects, which use SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) (San Jose, California) technology.
The company also intends to take advantage of the federal government's wind production tax credit (PTC) by performing wind repower projects. Explaining the Internal Revenue Service guidance for repowering projects, Ketchum said, "The guidance provides for an '80/20 rule,' by which a repowered wind turbine may qualify for a new 10-year PTC period if the cost of the new equipment incorporated into the turbine is at least 80% of the turbine's total value." For more information on wind repowering projects, see September 6, 2016, article - Repowering Windfarms Still Earns Production Tax Credits.
"Today, we are announcing plans to pursue additional repowering opportunities for roughly 1,300 MW to be completed in the 2017-2018 timeframe," said Ketchum. "We expect to invest approximately $875 million of capital to complete these repowering projects, and earnings from the projects are expected to be comparable to similar new-build opportunities with significantly less capital investment. ...We expect this opportunity set to continue to grow to support a total of at least $2.0 to $2.5 billion of capital deployment opportunities for repowerings over the next four years, with a greater portion of incremental opportunities expected to become actionable beyond 2018."
One such repower project being tracked by Industrial Info is NextEra's 40.8-MW repower of the Altamont Pass Windfarm I in Livermore, California. The project entails removal of existing turbines and installation of 24 1.7-MW turbines. The project is expected to kick next summer and be completed by the first quarter of 2018.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
