On December 13, 2021, Irby Crews placed the last of 54,000 batteries on-site at the Manatee Battery Energy Storage Facility. Later in the evening, Florida Power and Light “unveiled” the Manatee Battery Energy Storage Center with a community event that included laser lights and a drone show.

“It has a capacity to store enough energy to power 329,000 homes for two hours, and it’s also equivalent to 100 million iPhone batteries, which is nearly all the iPhones in the United States,” said Andrew Sutton, spokesperson for FPL told local news.

Local and national news media covered the story. Cilck the links below to see the coverage.

Congratulations to the Irby team at Manatee for such an amazing accomplishment!

On August 13, 2021, Power Engineering reported progress at the Manatee Battery Energy Power Center. The story provides an overview of the project scope. Irby is on-site for Florida Power and Light having been awarded the project in September 2020. The project is now 75% complete.

The story features FPL President and CEO Eric Silagy.

“With one milestone after another, FPL is following through on its steadfast commitment to make Florida a leader in sustainability and resiliency as we consistently deliver America’s best energy value – electricity that’s not just clean and reliable, but also affordable,” said FPL President and CEO Eric Silagy. “In June, we said goodbye to coal by dismantling FPL’s last coal plant in Florida just as we surpassed 40% of the way toward completing our ’30-by-30’ plan to install 30 million solar panels by 2030. Soon, the world’s largest solar-powered battery will begin serving customers, and we’ll turn our attention to an innovative green hydrogen pilot project – which could unlock the potential for a 100% carbon-free energy future.”

Visit to read the full story.

The Manatee Battery Energy Project was featured on Fox 13 News Tampa Bay on August 12, 2021. The news report by Kimberly Kuizon can be viewed on the . A copy of the related story is below.

FOX13news.com
World’s largest solar batter going online
Kimberly Kuizon reports

PARRISH, Fla.��–��Sitting on 40 acres of land in Manatee County, Florida Power and Light is nearly finished with construction on the world’s largest solar-powered battery.

“It’s a long-term journey in removing carbon from our system,” said Matt Valle.

The battery will capture energy during the day from sites like the Manatee Solar Energy Center, and then will be used to power 329,000 homes in Manatee and Desoto counties during the night and times when the sun isn’t shining as bright.

“It’s about 132 containers… stretching over 40 acres and that is capturing solar energy on the system, day-in and day-out, and balancing that later to when we need it,” explained Matt Valle, FP&L’s vice president of development.

Each unit houses specialized batteries. Combined, they are equivalent to 100 million iPhone batteries. The site has a lifespan of 40 years.

It’s one step FP&L is taking to continue a movement toward clean energy.

Once the battery is up and running, the fossil fuel plant in Parrish will be taken offline.

“Over the life of those investments and the retirement of that system, we will save 1 million tons of carbon,” said Valle.

FP&L said customers will also see some savings, but reducing the company’s carbon footprint is the real benefit.

“We feel that FPL, as well as other utilities, will have to go to a world where we aren’t emitting any carbon. This battery is key to taking intermittent renewable resources and bouncing that out on our grid over time,” said Valle.

The battery is expected to be in operation by the end of the year.

On August 12, 2021, Florida Power and Light an update on the progress of construction at the Manatee Battery Energy Storage Center project. ran a related story giving viewers a video tour of the work in progress. . Written news stories also appeared on the  website and in the .

When complete the battery system will consist of 132 energy storage containers organized across a 40-acre plot of land that’s the size of 30 football fields. The explains that the first of more than 50,000 battery modules have been installed. Each battery module can store the equivalent of 2,000 iPhone batteries. When complete the Manatee Energy Storage Center is set to have a 409-megawatt (MW) capacity, delivering 900 megawatt-hours (MWh) of solar energy – enough to power approximately 329,000 homes for more than two hours.

Completion will also allow FPL to retire the existing power plant in Manatee County. The project is expected to save $50 million and reduce 1 million tons of carbon.

���ϸ����� is proud to be a part of this monumental project and its continued partnership with FPL. The scope of our work at Manatee Battery Energy Storage Center is detailed in our project profile.

Featured photo courtesy of FPL

On June 23, 2021, Power Engineering published a on their website featuring an update on the construction progress being made at Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) Manatee Battery Storage Project. The FPL  on which the story is based marks the milestone of the first battery storage unit installations. When complete, the facility will be the largest solar power-battery storage facility in the world. Irby expects to complete construction later this year.

The article includes some fun facts about the recently installed storage container which is the first of 132 units to be installed. For example, each unit holds approximately 400 battery units and weighs approximately 38 tons. And each battery module is the equivalent of about 2,000 iPhone batteries. The units will store the extra solar energy produced by the FPL Manatee Solar Energy Center.

FPL announced the project in March of 2019. Read about the project scope and details in .

Irby’s scope of work is detailed in our project profile. You can also see additional news media coverage on the project in,, and