• Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) executives and Miami-Dade County community leaders donned hardhats and used ceremonial shovels to break ground on the future FPL Miami-Dade Clean Water Recovery Center (CWRC)

• The CWRC will reuse up to 15 million gallons of water per day to help deliver clean, reliable energy to residents in the county

• The project will also increase resiliency at the Turkey Point Clean Energy Center, which helps provide power for all FPL customers

Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) has broken ground on a state-of-the-art reclaimed water facility.

FPL, alongside Miami-Dade County community leaders, announced the future FPL Miami-Dade Clean Water Recovery Center (CWRC). In a news release, the utility company said the partnership is a win-win for FPL customers and Miami-made residents, with the advanced reclaimed water treatment facility being used to further treat and reuse up to 15 million gallons per day of reclaimed water from the county.

As one of the largest reclaimed water projects in the state, the facility will also allow FPL to use 100% of the reclaimed water to cool the natural gas plant at FPL’s Turkey Point Clean Energy Center, which helps provide power for all FPL customers.

“We understand at FPL that serving the Sunshine State comes with the responsibility to be a good steward of Florida’s unique environmental resources,” said Kate MacGregor, FPL vice president of environmental services. “This project fulfills both those missions – helping conserve water in the Floridan aquifer while improving the resiliency of the Turkey Point Clean Energy Center to provide clean, affordable and reliable power to our customers.”

Additionally, the CWRC will help Miami-Dade County meet reuse requirements under Florida’s Ocean Outfall Legislation, while providing a cost-effective way to reuse and recycle treated wastewater that would otherwise be discarded FPL says the project will also conserve Floridan Aquifer groundwater at the Turkey Point site.

“Miami-Dade County is at the forefront of climate innovation and we’re working each day to find new ways to protect our natural resources,” said Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “This water reuse site is yet another example of how the public and private sector can come together to meet our environmental goals, by prioritizing reuse, protecting our drinking water source, and safeguarding our economy at the same time.”

FPL noted that the CWRC will be powered, in part, by zero-emissions solar energy. FPL and Miami-Dade County have partnered on clean energy projects since 2018, including the Miami-Dade Solar Energy Center, the future FPL Everglades Solar Energy Center, dozens of innovative solar arrays, numerous battery storage projects, a microgrid and a growing electric vehicle charging network.