New Solar-Powered Florida City in the Works
In Florida, a master-planned city is currently in the works northeast of Fort Myers. The new city that will span 17,000 acres is developed by Kitson & Partners. Like many of those planned cities and communities of the future, this one called Bobcock Ranch aims to rely on renewable energy as a power source.
Florida Power & Light will be operating the city’s solar power plant which, when finished, would be the largest on earth. It will be an impressive 75-megawatt solar generator that will produce more energy per day than what the city will use within 24 hours, which is likely since the commercial buildings to be erected would have to be certified as energy-efficient. If that’s the case though, I’m a bit confused why the source claims the city will have to rely on the grid when the sun sets if the solar facility can supply more power than needed at daytime, but then again, energy from the grid might just supplement what the collected solar energy can power at night.
Bobcock Ranch’s solar power plant will sit on 350 acres of the land and will cost an estimated $300 million dollars to erect. Residents of the city will also be able to monitor their energy consumption through an integrated energy smart grid. It is the developer’s aim for the city to provide as much as 20,000 permanent job and thousands more temp jobs during its construction which could begin as early as this year.
