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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Rezoning of Land Propels Development of One of America's Largest Solar Farms to Be Built in Florida

07/22/2011
BlueChip Energy's plants to construct the largest privately owned solar farm in Florida--and one of the largest in the U.S.-moved forward more quickly now that 201 acres of land it purchased have been rezoned for development of its 40 megawatt solar farm in Lake County, FL.

"We were pleased with Lake County's fast-track permitting process," said Dimitri Nikitin, president of BlueChip Energy. "Lake County was diligent, thorough, and their review was comprehensive. We were able to move through their rezoning process in a couple of months as compared to a year as I have seen in other areas."

The company said its solar farm will be a ground mount system covering 140 acres of open field and be built in stages, starting with 10 MW in 2012. The plant will use 174,000 monocrystalline and polycrystalline PV solar panels from Advanced Solar Photonics and other leading manufacturers. BlueChip is providing its own project development, engineering, procurement, and construction capabilities.

The solar plant's power will generate about 64 million kilowatt hours per year (enough to meet the electricity needs for 8,000 typical Florida homes) and displace more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. Progress Energy Florida will buy BlueChip's power.

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