Duke Energy Corp. plans to add another natural gas-fired power plant to its fleet to replace its retired Crystal River Nuclear Plant in Citrus County, FL.

“We are looking at options for replacing capacity and are evaluating sites throughout our Florida service area,” Duke spokesman Mike Hughes told NGI. The time frame for construction and completion of the combined-cycle plant has not yet been determined, nor has the plant’s capacity.

“One of the things that leads us to consider natural gas is that prices are historically low,” Hughes said. “Combined-cycle technology allows us to build a plant sooner and less expensively than other forms of generation.”

Duke has submitted an application to build two nuclear reactors in Levy County, FL, but Hughes said he expects the natural gas plant to be completed first.

The Crystal River Energy Complex also contains four coal-fired plants. Two of the plants are to be retired as early as 2015, and they would not be replaced with coal-fired generation because of the cost of compliance with government regulations, Hughes said. The company is also retiring coal plants in the Carolinas and the Midwest, consistent with the national trend (see Daily GPI, Nov. 13, 2012).

Duke announced the retirement of Crystal River on Tuesday. The plant has been out of service since late 2009, when a crack in the containment wall was discovered. After a study of the time and cost involved to repair the plant, the company decided to shutter it instead.

The decision to use gas-fired generation enhances Florida’s status as a growth market. Spectra Energy President Bill Yardley said his company is expecting 1.4 Bcf/d of fuel conversions in Florida by the end of the decade (see Daily GPI, Jan. 17). Almost 60% of the state’s power is already generated using natural gas and it ranks second to Texas in overall gas consumption.

The state is served by two interstate gas pipelines. Florida Power & Light Co. is preparing a request for proposals to construct a third (see Daily GPI, Dec. 11, 2012).

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