Florida Power & Light engaged ECI for the design of this 409 MW Battery Energy Storage System. This facility is a ground-breaking venture, stated by FPL to be the world’s largest solar powered battery storage energy project at the time. The BESS facility is powered by existing utility scale solar projects in the region and is essentially a “peaking plant” as it will allow decommissioning of an adjacent aging fossil fuel plant.

ECI’s scope included electrical studies and basis of design, complete civil, electrical, P&C engineering, development of protection philosophy and settings. As of the energization date, Manatee was arguably the world’s most reliable and complex BESS project as a consequence of extremely high redundancy in the design concept.

Manatee is a part of FPL’s aggressive renewable energy goals, with a target of building more than 30 million solar panels by 2030. This facility aids in the retirement of fossil fuel generation units in the area.

ECI provided the BESS design as well as the design of the 230 kV transmission lines for interconnection. The energy storage project is co-located with FPL’s existing 74.5 MW Manatee PV Solar Plant in western Florida. The project consists of 132 battery containers on a 40-acre parcel including three (3) 230-34.5 kV 138/184/230 MVA MPT’s, forty-six (46) feeder breakers along with main and tie breakers off the 34.5 kV bus. The facilities were designed with redundancy and reliability considerations in mind.

The transmission design included two (2) new 230 kV transmission lines connecting the proposed 409 MW Manatee Battery Energy Storage Center to the existing Manatee switchyard. New concrete poles were engineered to support one (1) OPGW, one (1) OHGW and 1431 KCM ACSR AW Bobolink conductor.

With completion in late 2021, this monumental project is estimated to eradicate more than 1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

• Key Facts and Highlights:
  • 409 MW/818 MWh BESS
  • Complete Design & Studies
  • Integration of Existing Solar PV Facilities
  • Designed for Redundancy & Reliability