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Making its new entrance into utility-scale solar project business, Coronal Energy, power by Panasonic, has broken ground on a 120MWac solar portfolio for U.S.’s military facilities. The portfolio comprises three projects and will become operational during the summer of 2017.
Executives from Gulf Power and officials from Eglin Air Force Base and Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola participated in the groundbreaking ceremony -- Coronal Energy, power by Panasonic, installed the first two solar panels for the projects, which locate at Eglin Air Force Base, NAS Pensacola's Navy Outlying Landing Field (NOLF) Saufley, and NAS Whiting Field's NOLF Holley.
"These projects exemplify our commitment to leveraging strong partnerships and innovative solutions to develop large-scale solar projects that deliver clean energy to a diverse set of customers," said Jonathan Jaffrey, chairman and CEO of Coronal Energy™. "The collaborative approach to the development of the Gulf Coast Solar Center Portfolio represents a smarter approach to pursuing solar energy, and may serve as a model for future public/private sector renewable energy initiatives."
The installation scales of the three projects will respectively be: NAS Pensacola’s NOLF Saufley for 50MW, NAS Whiting Field's NOLF Holley for 40MW, and Eglin Air Force Base for 30MW.
Coronal Energy, powered by Panasonic, is constructing the three facilities on Department of Defense property in Northwest Florida. The utility-scale solar projects will be among the state’s largest solar projects after being completed during the summer of 2017. Coronal Energy, power by Panasonic, will install over 1.5 million solar panels for the projects to generate enough electricity to power around 18,000 homes.
Under terms of a deal approved by the Florida Public Service Commission in April 2015, energy generated from the facilities will serve Gulf Power’s customers across Northwest Florida. The projects will help reduce over 3.5 million tons of CO2 emissions over the 25 operational years.