Gulf Power's coal burn fell to 1.23 million st in 2020, down 15% from 1.45 million st estimated to be burned during the period and 34.9% lower than the 1.89 million st in 2019, according to a state regulatory filing.
Coal's generation share was at 27% in 2020, down from 35.7% projected and 50.4% in 2019, according to a filing published Jan. 21 by the Florida Public Service Commission.
In December, coal burn was at 209,243 st, which generated 142,323 MWh of power, up from 51,516 st in November, or 81,198 MWh, and 111,925 st, or 229,280 MWh, in the year-ago month.
The utility's coal generation share rose to 31.6% in December, up from 14.6% in November, but down from 34.1% in the year-ago month.
Natural gas' mix was at 66.1%, or 346,462 MWh, in December, compared with 83% in November and 65.5% in the year-ago month. In 2020, gas' mix was 70.7%, up from 49.4% in 2019.
Heat rate efficiency for coal was at 9,730 Btu/KWh in December, while gas was at 8,004 Btu/KWh, resulting in dispatch prices of roughly $37.70/MWh and $23.10/MWh, respectively. In November, coal's dispatch price was $50/MWh and gas' price was $22/MWh, while in the year-ago month, coal was at $33/MWh and gas at $19.80/MWh.
Gulf Power owns the Crist coal-fired power plant in Pensacola, Florida. It also has a 50% ownership of Mississippi Power's Daniel plant in Escatawpa, Mississippi and a 25% stake in one generating unit at Georgia Power's Scherer plant in Juliette, Georgia.
Coal purchases fall on month
Excluding the Scherer plant, Gulf Power purchased 79,666 st of coal in December at an average price of $58.33/st, down from 87,675 st at $53.03/st in November and 121,473 st at $54.29/st in the year-ago month. For the year, Gulf Power bought 990,191 st of coal, down from 2.02 million st purchased in 2019.
The utility also bought $1.06 million worth of coal for the Scherer plant in December at an average cost of $5.26/MMBtu, compared with $1.77 million worth of coal at $2.62/MMBtu in November and $1.5 million, or $2.71/MMBtu, in the year-ago month.
At the end of December, Gulf Power's coal stockpile, excluding the Scherer plant, was at 283,252 st, or 18 days cover, compared with 412,829 st, or 26 days cover, after November, and 521,218 st, or 33 days cover, at the end of December 2019.
The Scherer plant had 69 days of supply at the end of December, up from 67 days after November and 57 days at the end of the year-ago month.
