Florida Power & Light Company announced that its has completed major upgrades at its Turkey Point and St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plants.
The upgrade carried out in a five-year, multibillion-dollar investment, will add over 500MW of clean energy capacity.
On 17 April, Turkey Point Unit 4, the final unit to undergo an upgrade as part of the project, was connected to Florida’s electrical grid.
The upgrades of Turkey Point Unit 3, located in Miami-Dade County, and St. Lucie Units 1 and 2, located in St. Lucie County, were completed in 2012.
FPL President Eric Silagy said, “With consistently low fuel costs, zero emissions and the ability to operate around the clock, nuclear power is a critical component of our state’s energy mix today and tomorrow.”
“By increasing the amount of power that our nuclear plants can generate, this investment added the equivalent of a new, medium-sized power plant to Florida’s generation fleet, without having to build one,” Silagy added.
According to the compant, the upgrades, known as ‘extended power uprates’ were massive and highly-complex engineering projects.
FPL surpassed the initial projection of 399MW for the entire investment at the end of 2012, and the project is estimated to deliver nearly 30% more capacity than originally projected.