TECO Energy has formed subsidiary SeaCoast Gas Transmission LLC to develop and own a Florida intrastate gas pipeline, the company said last week.

SeaCoast Gas has entered into an agreement with JEA (formerly Jacksonville Electric Authority) — the company’s first pipeline customer — to provide long-term transportation to JEA’s planned Greenland Energy Center (GEC). SeaCoast Gas’ planned pipeline would connect both the Florida Gas Transmission and Southern Natural Gas transmission pipelines to JEA’s proposed power plant.

According to spokesperson Rick Morera, the pipeline would run 40-50 miles, use pipe of 20-24 inches in diameter and have capacity of about 0.1 Bcf/d. The project is expected to cost $40-100 million and be in service in mid 2010. Its entire capacity would serve power generation customers, Morera told NGI. The route has yet to be finalized, he said.

Given the expected growth of gas-fired generation in Florida and the availability of additional gas supplies in the Jacksonville area, SeaCoast also is exploring opportunities for the future expansion of the pipeline to deliver gas to electric generators in the east-central Florida markets.

As proposed, JEA’s GEC will be built in two phases in Jacksonville, FL. The initial phase will be the construction of two gas-fired simple-cycle combustion turbine units, which are proposed to be operational in June 2010. The second phase will convert these simple-cycle units to a combined-cycle combustion turbine. Heat recovery equipment will be installed on the two simple-cycle combustion turbines to capture enough heat to run a steam turbine. This phase is proposed to be operational in 2012 or 2013. Upon completion GEC will be capable of producing 553 MW.

TECO Energy is an energy-related holding company. Its principal subsidiary, Tampa Electric Co., is a regulated utility in Florida with both electric and gas divisions, Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas System. Other subsidiaries include TECO Coal, which owns and operates coal production facilities in Kentucky and Virginia, and TECO Guatemala, which is engaged in power generation and distribution in Guatemala.

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