JENNINGS, Fla. — A 70-megawatt solar farm in Hamilton County has another developer on board.

RAI Energy International Inc. announced Tuesday that it purchased an ownership stake in the Hercules Power Project in Jennings.

RAI will now serve as a co-developer on the project with Hamilton Energy Resource Opportunities LLC.

“We’re excited to bring RAI’s 75 years of energy sector experience to this project,” HERO managing director and founder Jack Levine said in a release. “RAI will help us ensure we can meet growing demand for solar energy in Florida.

“We want to continue to acknowledge the exceptional and ongoing support and assistance of Hamilton County, its Economic Development Authority, County Commissioners, officials and citizens without whom the project’s road to completion would not have been possible.”

HERO began in 2009 and by 2010 announced plans to begin work on Hercules, which sits on 450 acres of previously-farmed land.

At the time, Levine said the plant would be fully operational in two years but would begin producing power after one year.

“RAI is encouraged to see more favorable market conditions in the Florida solar energy sector as evidence by Duke Energy’s and Tampa Electric Company’s recent announcements to add 700 megawatts and 600 megawatts, respectively, of solar energy,” RAI President and CEO Mohammed S. Alrai said in a release. “Now, more than ever, Florida is looking to develop new sources of solar energy.

“The HERO project is an exciting opportunity to provide Florida customers with clean, reliable and affordable solar generation. We look forward to partnering with HERO and Hamilton County to bring this important new renewable energy project online.”

The agreement between HERO and RAI comes on the heels of Duke also recently announcing plans for a solar plant in Hamilton County.

As part of the company’s plans to add 700 megawatts of solar energy in the next four years was the announcement of a new plant in Jasper set to begin construction early next year. The plant, which will be the company’s sixth in the state including one in Suwannee County currently under construction, will have approximately 300,000 solar panels on 550 acres of land.

The Hamilton Solar Plant will produce 74.9 megawatts of energy, which is enough to power more than 20,000 homes at peak production, according to Duke.