January 08, 2025
The Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) and Origis Energy have commissioned the 75MW Rice Creek Solar Energy Center in Putnam County, Florida.
The project is the third site in the Florida Municipal Solar Project, one of the largest municipal-backed solar projects in the US with a total capacity of 300MW. The FMPA is owned by 33 utilities, and power from the Rice Creek solar farm will be delivered to 12 utilities, all of which are member-owners of FMPA, including the first solar projects to be connected to the grid in Havana, New Smyrna Beach and Newberry.
Origis Energy provided building work at the Rice Creek project, with financial support coming from a term loan from the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group last April. The company will own and operate the project moving forward, and announced that construction work started on a fourth project in the portfolio, Whistling Duck Solar, at the end of 2024. It expects the portfolio to grow to seven sites and 525MW of power “over the next few years”.
“We are excited to expand our solar power generation and bring even more affordable and clean energy to our members,” said FMPA CEO and general manager Jacob Williams. “By working together, our members and their communities benefit from additional solar-powered energy that’s both cost-effective and carbon-free.”