Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp and local community leaders joined officials of Florida Power and Light Company to break ground on FPL's Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center, which will be the world's first hybrid solar energy plant and the first utility-scale solar facility in Florida.

The plant will be in full operation by 2010 and will provide enough power to serve about 11,000 homes.

Over 30 years, the solar facility will prevent the emissions of more than 2.75 million tons of greenhouse gases, which is the equivalent of removing more than 18,700 cars from the road every year for the live of the project.