Development of New Coal-Fired Generation is Slowing in Florida

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). For a brief period of time, it appeared as if power producers in the state of Florida were following a familiar and growing trend across the United States in developing new coal-fired generating assets. However, in recent months, what was once an aggressive push to add more coal-fired capacity has slowed somewhat. The primary issues behind the project delays are concerns over the environmental impact of building more large coal-fired units and the escalating costs associated with building these facilities.

In June, the Florida Public Service Commission denied permission to Florida Power & Light (NYSE:FPL ) (Juno Beach, Florida) to build a new 1,980-megawatt coal-fired plant in Glades County, Florida. The PSC in a 4-0 decision cited that the project would not provide a cost effective source of electricity. The plant as proposed would have housed two supercritical coal-fired boilers and two 990-megawatt steam turbines with an estimated price tag of over $5 billion. Florida Power & Light is currently evaluating options, but it appears likely that FPL will be in a position to build more natural gas fired generating units to meet energy demands. The new coal plant had been proposed in an effort to diversify the company’s fuel sources in an effort to avoid the instability of natural gas prices. In addition to building new natural gas fired units, the company has also indicated that they intend to build two new reactors possibly at the Turkey Point Plant, or at a new location.

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On July 3, 2007, the developers of the Taylor Energy Center announced plans to suspend permitting activities while participating in a recently announced state dialogue on Florida’s energy future. The project manager Mike Lawson said “Our mission is to provide reliable power at an affordable price in an environmentally responsible manner. We believe the state-of-the-art technology we proposed would satisfy those objectives; however, growing concerns about climate change have raised questions that must be addressed thoughtfully. Rather than push forward, it’s more important that we work with state leaders to craft an energy plan for Florida.” Taylor Energy Center as proposed would consist of a single pulverized coal and petroleum coke fired boiler and an 800-megawatt steam turbine generator. The project was proposed by North Florida Power Project which is a partnership between JEA (Jacksonville, Florida), City of Tallahassee, Florida, Florida Municipal Power Agency (Orlando, Florida), & Reedy Creek Improvement District (Orlando, Florida).

In addition to these projects, Gainesville Regional Utilities (Gainesville, Florida) had given consideration to constructing a 200-megawatt coal-fired unit using either integrated gasification combined-cycle or circulating fluidized bed boiler technology. Development of this project has taken a back seat to a proposed 100-megawatt biomass fired unit at the Deerhaven Power Station.

Despite these set backs there are still coal-fired projects moving forward in the state. Orlando Gasification LLC, a joint venture between Southern Company Generation (NYSE:SO ) (Atlanta, Georgia) and Orlando Utilities Commission is moving forward with a 295-megawatt Transport Reactor Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Project at the Curtis Stanton Energy Center. Construction on this project is expected to begin in 2008. Also in 2008 Seminole Electric Cooperative is expecting to move to construction of their 750-megawatt Unit 3 in Palatka, Florida. Tampa Electric Company, a subsidiary of TECO Energy, Incorporated (NYSE:TE ) (Tampa, Florida) is planning to add a 630-megawatt integrated gasification combined cycle unit at their Polk County Generating Station. Polk County is home to one of the few IGCC units in operation within the United States today.

Apart from new coal-fired generation capacity, there are currently 61 units, representing nearly 11,000-megawatts that are under development or in the construction phase in Florida. These new units and plants are proposed to use a variety of fuel types including natural gas, nuclear, fuel oil and renewable energy sources.

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