Putnam County (FL) Chamber leader touts 4 nearby solar farms
Across Florida, large-scale solar farms are popping up as utilities and businesses work to transition to clean energy solutions and capitalize on the low-cost electricity that solar provides. Solar, as the number one source of new energy generation, is proving valuable to diversifying Florida’s energy portfolio and driving significant economic development.
In a recent article in Business Facilities, Mark Litten, vice president of economic development, Putnam County (FL) Chamber of Commerce, listed the county’s four solar farms as a key driver people should know about.
“Solar farms have minimal impact and are great for the climate in developing renewable electricity,” Litten says. “But these are also a great capital investment without any infrastructure costs, increasing the tax base used to support economic development.”
Economic development is not always easy for Putnam County, a rural county with a population smaller than Kissimmee but as the economic development agency for the county, the chamber and Litten know there are some significant competitive advantages to their region
Located 90 minutes from the Jacksonville, Orlando and Gainesville/Ocala areas, with much of the coast built out, it is primed for growth with mostly flat, dry and undeveloped land. It has a 200-acre industrial park, rail lines and a barge port that will have direct access to the Atlantic via JAXPORT in Jacksonville.
In July, French-based CertainTeed Gypsum Palatka announced a $235 million expansion of its wallboard plant in Putnam County. The deal creates more than 100 direct and 400 indirect new jobs with an average salary of $65,000 plus benefits.
A key to the deal was the solar farm and the relationship the company had built with Seminole Electric. CertainTeed uses recycled coal ash, some from Seminole Electric, to make its drywall products. Another key part of the deal was Seminole Electric providing land it owned at its electric generation plant in Palatka for the facility.
CertainTeed received approximately $7 million in state and local incentives for the expansion.
“This is why communities invest in economic development because their return is so much more than the investment,” Litten says. “With companies investing in solar farms and other projects, we’re able to have these funds to invest and bring projects like this to Putnam County. We’re going to see returns on this one investment for more than 50 years.”