Florida added nearly 16 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale natural gas-fired electric generation between 2008 and 2018, according to the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA).

That amounted to roughly one-quarter of all U.S. natural gas installations and the most of any state.

During the same period, electric utility net generation in Florida grew about 15%. That lifted natural gas’s share of the in-state generation fuel mix from nearly half (47%) to three-fourths (72%) of the total. EIA said it expects natural gas-fired generation capacity to continue to grow, displacing fuel sources such as coal and petroleum liquids.

Source: EIAFlorida’s electric power sector includes nearly 50 operating utility-scale natural gas-fired electric generation facilities with a total nameplate capacity of 42 GW, EIA said. About 40% of the existing natural gas generation capacity was added between 2008 and 2018. Natural gas-fired capacity additions totaled 15.7 GW between 2008 and 2018, nearly all of which were combined-cycle units. The additions more than offset retirements of petroleum liquids-fired units (5.1 GW), conventional coal-fired units (2.8 GW), less-efficient natural gas-fired units (3.3 GW) and other retirements (0.9 GW).

EIA said that additions to natural gas pipeline capacity have kept pace with new natural gas-fired electricity generation in Florida. Natural gas pipeline delivery capacity to Florida increased from 4.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2008 to 6.2 Bcf/d in 2018, up 50%.

In 2017, the 515-mile, 0.81 Bcf/d Sabal Trail pipeline entered into service. The pipeline delivers natural gas to power plants owned by Florida Power and Light and Duke Energy of Florida. Construction is underway on Phase II of the Sabal Trail to deliver an additional 0.17 Bcf/d of natural gas in 2020.

Other projects are planned to serve Florida, including Phase III of the Sabal Trail pipeline (0.08 Bcf/d) and an expansion of the Gulfstream Natural Gas System (0.08 Bcf/d), which will allow deliveries to the converted Big Bend Power Plant in Tampa.

According to EIA, through the first quarter of 2019 roughly 1.8 GW of natural gas-fired electric generator capacity came online in Florida, mainly from Florida Power & Light's 1.7 GW Okeechobee Clean Energy Center.

Two additional projects totaling more than 0.9 GW of nameplate capacity are scheduled to enter into service by 2021, including the Big Bend Power Station. That project will convert one coal-fired electric generator unit to run exclusively on natural gas. The project will account for 84% of the increase of Florida natural gas generation capacity by 2021. Florida’s natural gas generation capacity will increase further when the natural gas unit switches from simple to combined-cycle operations in 2023.