Since Florida Gas Transmission (FGT) placed its Phase VIII expansion into service on April, daily natural gas flows into the Sunshine State have exceeded pre-expanded levels nearly 50% of the time, according to a report issued by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Monday.

Daily scheduled natural gas flows from June 1 through Aug. 29 were more than 5% higher than in the same period in 2010, despite temperatures in Florida that were cooler than last summer, the agency noted. And as a result of the FGT expansion, utilization of the natural gas pipelines coming into Florida has dropped to an average of 86% since June 1, compared to a 97% utilization rate for the same period last year.

The Phase VIII Expansion Project, which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved in November 2009, added more than 483 miles of pipeline loops, laterals and mainline and installed 213,600 hp of compression at eight existing stations and one new compressor station (see Daily GPI, Nov. 20, 2009). FGT also acquired the existing 22.7-mile Martin Lateral from Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) to serve power plants located in Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade and Suwannee counties, FL. The Phase VIII Expansion added 820,000 MMBtu/d of capacity to FGT’s system from Alabama to Florida.

In addition to FPL, the expansion is serving Florida Power Corp./Progress Energy Florida Inc.; Seminole Electric Cooperative Inc.; Tampa Electric Co.; the Orlando Utilities Commission; and the City of Tallahassee.

More than 85% of the gas consumed in Florida is for electricity generation. In 2010 55% of the state’s electricity was generated with natural gas, according to the EIA. It said the amount of natural gas used for power generation is likely to grow in Florida, as new natural gas-fired electric capacity comes online.

The 5,000-mile FGT system is one of two pipelines serving Florida — with the other being Gulfstream Natural Gas System.

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