FPL and NASA Join Forces

Florida Power & Light Company and National Aeronautic and Space Administration’s Kennedy Space Center are teaming up to jointly explore developing renewable energy projects. They say together they hope to advance and deploy the use of large scale solar technology in Florida as early as 2008.

 

FPL Group is a recognized champion of energy efficiency and conservation programs, and NASA is a significant consumer of electric power with land and/or facilities that may be available for renewable energy projects.

“FPL has long been a clean energy and conservation leader. We now have an exciting opportunity to work with NASA to bring more renewable energy to Florida,” said Armando Olivera, president of FPL. “This fits right in with our goal to meet the challenge of reducing greenhouse gases while providing our customers with clean, reliable power at an affordable price,” he added.

"The Kennedy Space Center is pleased to partner with our electric power provider to explore ways we can jointly improve the use of renewable energy in Florida," said Center Operations Director Michael J. Benik. "We are looking forward to identifying projects that can help reduce our nation’s and state’s dependence on fossil fuels."

The two organizations say they will consider projects ranging from solar and biomass to wind energy. The parties say they plan to initially study the feasibility of installing a solar photovoltaic power generation system capable of producing up to 10 megawatts of electrical power at a site of approximately 50 acres. Such a facility would produce enough energy to serve about 3,000 average homes.

Florida Power & Light Company is the principal subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE:FPL – News), nationally known as a high quality, efficient and customer-driven organization focused on energy-related products and services. With annual revenues of nearly $16 billion and a growing presence in 27 states, FPL Group is widely recognized as one of the country’s premier power companies. Florida Power & Light Company serves 4.5 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, LLC, FPL Group’s competitive energy subsidiary, is the nation’s leader in producing electricity from clean and renewable sources such as solar and wind.