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Integrating Solar Energy Into Florida’s Power System: A Strategic Solar Energy Implementation Plan at Orange County Utilities Megan L. Nelson, Mark Ikeler, Andres Salcedo, Jennifer Ribotti, and Daniel Allen Megan L. Nelson, P.E., is senior engineer; Mark Ikeler, P.E., is chief engineer; and Andres Salcedo, P.E., is deputy director at Orange County Utilities in Orlando. Jennifer Ribotti, P.E., is project manager and Daniel Allen, P.E., is senior project manager at Tetra Tech in Orlando.
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lorida, also known as the Sunshine State, has a readily available, abundant resource for energy providers and users across the state. As one of the largest utility providers in central Florida, Orange County Utilities (OCU) is researching best practices to utilize solar energy and reduce energy costs to maximize its operating budget and support the 2030 Sustainable Operations and Resilience Action Plan from Jerry Demings, the mayor of Orange County. One identified strategy in the plan is installing solar power at a high-energy consumption wastewater treatment facility. Because of the amount of available land, OCU’s Northwest Water Reclamation Facility (NWRF) was selected as the preferred location for a pilot project. At OCU, electricity costs account for approximately 15 percent of the annual operating budget for both the water and water reclamation divisions. When identifying potential solar projects within OCU, several factors were considered that would provide the best return on this investment: S Available land space S Proximity to high power use processes S Existing regulatory constraints
Figure 1. Site Location Map
30 March 2023 • Florida Water Resources Journal
The OCU owns and operates the NWRF, and power to the facility is currently provided by Duke Energy (Duke). The proposed NWRF solar plant is to have a capacity of 2 megawatts (MW), which will reduce electricity consumption at the facility by approximately 33 percent and