Houston—Tampa Electric saw its coal burn fall to 431,512 st in 2020, down 14.4% from the 503,880 st expected for the period and 24.3% lower than the 570,012 st burned in 2019, according to a state regulatory filing.
In December, the utility's monthly burn at its Big Bend coal-fired power plant in Apollo Beach, Florida, was at 38,024 st, down from 90,664 st in November and 61,458 st in the year-ago month, according to the filing published by the Florida Public Service Commission.
Coal's generation mix was at 6.1%, or 81,857 MWh, in December, down from 14.7% in November and 8.6% in the year-ago month.
Natural gas' mix was at 88.3%, or 1.19 GWh, in December, up from 79.9% in November and 88.4% in the year-ago month.
Solar generation made up the remaining 5.6% in December, up from 5.5% in November and 3.1% in December 2019.
In 2020, Tampa Electric's coal's mix was at 4.9%, down from 6.1% in 2019, while natural gas and solar was at 89.1% and 6%, respectively, compared with 90% and 3.9% a year ago.
In December, average fuel cost for coal was $78.50/st, up from $67.07/st in November and $73.35/st in the year-ago month.
On a MMBtu basis, coal averaged $3.43/MMBtu, up from $2.93/MMBtu in November and $3.21/MMBtu in December 2019, while gas averaged $3.68/MMBtu in December, compared with $3.87/MMBtu in November and $3.27/MMBtu a year ago.
Heat rate efficiency for coal in December was at 10,624 Btu/KWh, while gas was at 8,062 Btu/KWh, resulting in dispatch prices of roughly $36.50/MWh and $29.70/MWh, respectively. In November, coal's dispatch price was $32.50/MWh and gas was at $31.80/MWh, while coal and gas was at $36.50/MWh and $27/MWh, respectively, in the year-ago month.
At the end of December, Tampa Electric's coal stockpile was at 186,857 st, or 106 days of supply, compared with 155,229 st after November and 302,458 st at the end of December 2019.
Coal purchases rise on monthCoal purchases for the month totaled 69,652 st in December, up from 37,517 st in November and 65,863 st in the year-ago month. Tampa Electric spent over $4.39 million, or $63.04/st, on the coal in December, up from $1.95 million, or $51.85/st, in November, and $4.16 million, or $63.12/st, in the year-ago month.
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.
