Tampa Electric coal burn falls to 58,946 st in March: filing

Tampa Electric saw its coal burn fall to 32,825 st in April, down 44.3% from the 58,946 st burned in March, according to a state regulatory filing May 26.

The utility's monthly burn at its Big Bend coal-fired power plant in Apollo Beach, Florida, was estimated to be 40,910 st in April, according to the filing published by the Florida Public Service Commission.

Coal's generation mix was at 4.3% in April, compared with 8.6% the previous month, while total generation was 63,348 MWh, down 49.9% from March.

Natural gas mix was 86.7% in April, compared with 83.5% in March. Gas generated was about 1.3 GWh in the most recent month, up from over 1.2 GWh in the previous month.

Solar generation made up the remaining 9% in April, up from 8% in March.

In 2020, Tampa Electric's coal mix was 4.9%, down from 6.1% in 2019, while natural gas and solar were 89.1% and 6%, respectively, compared with 90% and 3.9% a year earlier.

In April, average fuel cost for coal was at $85.41/st, down from $81.43/st in March.

Coal averaged $3.67/MMBtu, up from $3.53/MMBtu in March, while gas averaged $3.37/MMBtu in March, compared with $3.67/MMBtu the previous month.

Heat-rate efficiency for coal in April was at 12,963 Btu/kWh, while gas was at 8,165 Btu/kWh, resulting in dispatch prices of roughly $44.30/MWh and $27.50/MWh, respectively. In March, coal's dispatch price was $38/MWh and gas was $29.30/MWh.

At the end of April, Tampa Electric's coal stockpile was at 223,641 st, or 111 days of supply, compared with 205,404 st after March.

Coal purchases decline on month

Coal purchases for the month totaled 51,062 st in April, up from 91,883 st in March.

Tampa Electric spent roughly $3.7 million, or $72.96/st, on the coal in April, down from $7 million, or $76.55/st, in March.

The utility purchased 343,212 st of coal in 2020 at an average cost of $60.39/st, down from 519,665 st at $69.08/st in the same period a year earlier.