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Released March 03, 2023 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Emera Incorporated (TSX:EMA) is approaching the energy transition with a little more caution in 2023, as it maintains a strong outlook for solar-power and hydro-power growth in Florida and Nova Scotia, respectively. At the same time, the company is keeping its options open on closing one of its coal-fired units in central Florida, where natural gas-fired generation is continuing its dominance of the energy mix. Industrial Info is tracking $1.8 billion worth of active projects from Emera, all but a few of which are operated by subsidiary Tampa Electric Company.
Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Emera's active projects, by fuel type.
"This year, the team executed on one of our largest annual capital programs to date," including almost $1.5 billion of capital investment for Tampa Electric, said Scott Balfour, the chief executive officer of Emera, in a quarterly earnings-related conference call. "And even with the backdrop of sudden inflationary pressures and challenging global supply-chain disruptions, we kept our large capital projects on time and on budget."
Florida is home to Tampa Electric's Big Bend Modernization Project in Apollo Beach, Florida, which partly converted a coal-fired power-generation complex to natural gas-fired, combined-cycle (NGCC) output. In December, the company completed the conversion of a 445-megawatt (MW) steam turbine generator to a 2-on-1 combined-cycle unit that more than doubled its output to 1.09 gigawatts (GW). Tampa Electric also has retired the coal-fired Unit 2 and is preparing to retire the coal-fired Unit 3 this spring; over the next three years, units 2 and 3 will be decommissioned and dismantled, with each process taking more than a full year.
Unit 4 at Big Bend, however, could remain coal-fired for the foreseeable future, depending on Tampa Electric's findings. "We actually made a fairly significant capital investment in Big Bend 4 to that allows that unit to achieve full-load 480 MW on natural gas. We also have the ability to consume 100% coal in that unit," said Archie Collins, the president of Tampa Electric, in the conference call. "Now we're able to play off one fuel against the other and determine what's the most cost effective for customers at any point in time." He acknowledged "it's sort of keeping coal around a bit longer than some stakeholders might like," but said "we see value in that flexibility, and we're going to continue to keep that asset available on either natural gas or coal."
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can read detailed reports on the NGCC conversion, as well as the decommissioning and dismantlement of Unit 2 and Unit 3.
"Last quarter, we announced our 2023 to 2025 capital plan of $8 billion to $9 billion, driving expected rate base growth of 7% to 8% over the forecast period," Balfour said in the conference call. "Over 75% of our three-year capital program will be invested in our Florida operations, driven largely by the significant economic growth in the state."
The bulk of Tampa Electric's active power-generation projects are for solar plants, surrounding the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Lakeland. Among the projects proposed for the area are the 75-MW Wheeler Solar Farm in Waverly and the 25-MW Dover Solar Farm in Dover. Both facilities would utilize solar panels provided by First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona), and both are slated to wrap up toward the end of the year. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Wheeler and Dover projects.
Balfour noted in the conference call that Tampa Electric surpassed 1 GW of total solar generation in service, giving it "the highest proportion of solar generation per customer of any utility in Florida." He added: "Our investments in solar have not only allowed us to decrease the carbon intensity of our generation mix. They've saved our customers over US$80 million in 2022 in avoided fuel costs. Similarly, in Atlantic Canada, our investment in the Maritime Link saved Nova Scotia customers almost $100 million in 2022 by replacing expensive carbon generation with clean hydro energy."
Nova Scotia Power Corporation, a subsidiary of Emera, is nearing the end of a modernization project at its Wreck Cove Hydro Station in Englishtown, Nova Scotia. The subsidiary is replacing a pair of turbines, each with a capacity of 100 MW, and refurbishing a generator from General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Boston, Massachusetts). Nova Scotia Power also invested $180 million in transmission and distribution in 2022, about 51% more than in 2015. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.
Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for active projects from Emera.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Emera's active projects, by fuel type."This year, the team executed on one of our largest annual capital programs to date," including almost $1.5 billion of capital investment for Tampa Electric, said Scott Balfour, the chief executive officer of Emera, in a quarterly earnings-related conference call. "And even with the backdrop of sudden inflationary pressures and challenging global supply-chain disruptions, we kept our large capital projects on time and on budget."
Florida is home to Tampa Electric's Big Bend Modernization Project in Apollo Beach, Florida, which partly converted a coal-fired power-generation complex to natural gas-fired, combined-cycle (NGCC) output. In December, the company completed the conversion of a 445-megawatt (MW) steam turbine generator to a 2-on-1 combined-cycle unit that more than doubled its output to 1.09 gigawatts (GW). Tampa Electric also has retired the coal-fired Unit 2 and is preparing to retire the coal-fired Unit 3 this spring; over the next three years, units 2 and 3 will be decommissioned and dismantled, with each process taking more than a full year.
Unit 4 at Big Bend, however, could remain coal-fired for the foreseeable future, depending on Tampa Electric's findings. "We actually made a fairly significant capital investment in Big Bend 4 to that allows that unit to achieve full-load 480 MW on natural gas. We also have the ability to consume 100% coal in that unit," said Archie Collins, the president of Tampa Electric, in the conference call. "Now we're able to play off one fuel against the other and determine what's the most cost effective for customers at any point in time." He acknowledged "it's sort of keeping coal around a bit longer than some stakeholders might like," but said "we see value in that flexibility, and we're going to continue to keep that asset available on either natural gas or coal."
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can read detailed reports on the NGCC conversion, as well as the decommissioning and dismantlement of Unit 2 and Unit 3.
"Last quarter, we announced our 2023 to 2025 capital plan of $8 billion to $9 billion, driving expected rate base growth of 7% to 8% over the forecast period," Balfour said in the conference call. "Over 75% of our three-year capital program will be invested in our Florida operations, driven largely by the significant economic growth in the state."
The bulk of Tampa Electric's active power-generation projects are for solar plants, surrounding the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Lakeland. Among the projects proposed for the area are the 75-MW Wheeler Solar Farm in Waverly and the 25-MW Dover Solar Farm in Dover. Both facilities would utilize solar panels provided by First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona), and both are slated to wrap up toward the end of the year. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Wheeler and Dover projects.
Balfour noted in the conference call that Tampa Electric surpassed 1 GW of total solar generation in service, giving it "the highest proportion of solar generation per customer of any utility in Florida." He added: "Our investments in solar have not only allowed us to decrease the carbon intensity of our generation mix. They've saved our customers over US$80 million in 2022 in avoided fuel costs. Similarly, in Atlantic Canada, our investment in the Maritime Link saved Nova Scotia customers almost $100 million in 2022 by replacing expensive carbon generation with clean hydro energy."
Nova Scotia Power Corporation, a subsidiary of Emera, is nearing the end of a modernization project at its Wreck Cove Hydro Station in Englishtown, Nova Scotia. The subsidiary is replacing a pair of turbines, each with a capacity of 100 MW, and refurbishing a generator from General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Boston, Massachusetts). Nova Scotia Power also invested $180 million in transmission and distribution in 2022, about 51% more than in 2015. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.
Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for active projects from Emera.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
