National solar power taps florida for $1.5b project

After putting the Triad on the short list for a proposed $1.5 billion solar farm, Florida-based National Solar Power announced today that the project will be located in one of four Florida counties.

The company has named Gadsden, Hardee, Osceola and Suwannee counties as the four finalists for the 400-megawatt solar farm that's expected to produce enough electricity to power 32,000 homes.

In late June, Guilford County was named one of seven finalists to land the project in a public announcement that came before National Solar Power officials had spoken with local economic development or elected officials about the possibility of locating the solar farm in the Triad.

While economic developers in the Triad pledged to look for sites, it seems that only two relatively small Guilford County sites were shown. Local enthusiasm for the project dimmed soon after it was announced once locals realized that the project, no matter how large, would create virtually no jobs and add little to the local tax base. North Carolina law allows for an 80 percent break on local real estate taxes for the equipment that go into solar farms.

Source: BizJournals.com