Tampa Electric saw its coal burn decrease to 79,567 st in October, down 36% from 124,393 st in September and 66% lower than the 231,416 st burned in the year-ago month, according to a regulatory filing.
The utility's monthly burn at its Big Bend coal-fired power plant in Apollo Beach, Florida, and Polk power plant in Bradley, Florida, was down 54.5% from 174,790 st estimated to be burned in October, according to the filing published by the Florida Public Service Commission.
Coal's generation mix was at 10.8%, or 184,401 MWh, in October, down from 23.9%, or 404,900 MWh, expected for the month. The generation mix was up from 15.1%, or 280,702 MWh, in September and 29.1%, or 485,813 MWh, in the year-ago month.
Since January, coal's generation mix has averaged 19.7%, down from 26.2% estimated for the period and 31.7% in the first 10 months of 2017.
Natural gas' mix was at 88%, or 1.51 million MWh, in October, down from 84.3% in September and 70.7% in October 2017.
For the first 10 months of the year, Tampa Electric has burned 1.51 million st, down 22.1% from 1.94 million st expected and also down 36.8% from 2.38 million st burned in the same period a year ago.
In October, Tampa Electric's average fuel cost for coal was $74.75/st, down from $76.82/st in September but up from $70.65/st in the year-ago month.
On an MMBtu basis, coal averaged $3.31/MMBtu in October, up from $3.20/MMBtu in September and $3.05/MMBtu in the year-ago month. Gas averaged $3.99/MMBtu in October, $3.85/MMBtu in September and $3.92/MMBtu in October 2017.
Heat rate efficiency for coal was at 9,759 Btu/KWh, while gas was at 7,897 Btu/KWh, resulting in dispatch prices of roughly $32.26/MWh and $31.51/MWh, respectively. In September, coal's dispatch price was $34.04/MWh and gas' price was $30.68/MWh, while in the year-ago month, coal was at $33.65/MWh and gas at $29.42/MWh.
Average dispatch price for coal in the first 10 months of 2018 is at $35.52/MWh, while gas is at $30.38/MWh, compared with $33.16/MWh and $30.27/MWh in the year-ago month, respectively.
COAL PURCHASES
Tampa Electric purchased 99,070 st of coal in October at an average price of $60.48/st, compared with 95,926 st at $71.02/st in September and 56,919 st at $72.59/st in the year-ago month.
Through October, the utility has purchased 1.43 million st of coal, down 43% from 2.51 million st bought in the same period a year ago.
At the end of October, Tampa Electric's coal stockpile was at 352,071 st, or 56 days cover, down from 553,898 st, or 88 days estimated for the month and 332,568 st, or 54 days cover, after September. Coal inventories were at 458,838 st, or 43 days cover, at the end of October 2017.
In 2017, 1.945 million st of coal was delivered to the Big Bend and Polk stations at an average fuel cost of $67.38/st, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. Knight Hawk Coal supplied over 576,000 st, Alliance Coal delivered over 408,000 st and another 402,000 st came from Armstrong Coal's Kronos mine, which is now owned by Murray Energy.
