Duke Energy Florida's coal generation share rises in August: filing

Houston — Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, saw its coal generation mix rise to 13.7% in August, up from 9.4% expected for the month and 13.1% in July, the utility said in a state regulatory filing.

The regulated utility told the Florida Public Service Commission it burned 296,074 st of coal in August, up from 181,845 st projected to be burned during the month, and 268,047 st in July. The latest month was also up from 157,317 st burned in the year-ago month, which made up 7.7% of the generation mix.

Natural gas burn was at 26.68 Bcf in August, or an 84.4% mix, compared with 26.8 Bcf, or 85%, burned in July, and 28.34 Bcf, or 91.6%, in the year-ago month.

In August, Florida city-gate gas prices averaged $2.516/MMBtu, up from $2.059/MMBtu in July and $2.427/MMBtu in the year-ago month, according to S&P Global Platts.

Duke Energy Florida's Crystal River coal-fired plant generated 583,829 MWh in August, up from 550,020 MWh in July and 316,119 MWh in the year-ago month.

Total coal burn this year through August is at 926,983 st, down from 1.21 million st burned in the first eight months of 2019. Generation mix for coal is at 7.2% through August, down from 9.6% a year ago.

Average fuel cost for coal was at $3.70/MMBtu in August, down from $3.88/MMBtu in July and $3.82/MMBtu in the year-ago month.

Coal purchases climb on month

Coal purchases for the month totaled 191,443 st in August, up from 153,289 st in July and 190,337 st in the year-ago month. The utility has purchased 890,202 st of coal this year, compared with 806,675 st expected for the period and 1.01 million st purchased in the first eight months of 2019.

At the end of August, Duke Energy Florida's coal inventory was at 301,339 st, or 32 days of supply, compared with 405,971 st, or 47 days, after July, and 407,129 st in the year-ago month, or 80 days cover.

In 2019, over 2.01 million st was delivered to Duke Energy Florida, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.

The delivered coal, which came from mines in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, had an average heat content of 11,976 Btu/lb at an average cost of $56.01/st, according to the EIA data.

The majority of the coal came from Alliance Coal and Knight Hawk Coal. Alliance shipped 787,732 st of 12,189 Btu/lb coal at an average delivered price of $53.80/st, while Knight Hawk delivered 768,963 st of 11,162 Btu/lb coal at $53.05/st.