Progress Energy announced plans this morning to build a large natural gas plant on the banks of the Suwannee River.
The plant will more than quadruple the electric capacity of the utility’s Suwannee River power station in Suwannee County. The existing power station, near Ellaville, has six small generators capable with a combined capacity of about 282-megawatts.
The utility offered no cost estimates, or details on the environmental impact of the plant.
Florida Power & Light is paying about $1.3-billion to build two similarly sized plants in Palm Beach County, said Pat Davis, spokeswoman for Florida Power & Light. Tampa Electric estimated the cost of a similar but smaller 555-megawatt plant at $555-million, said spokesman Rick Morera.
The power plant will draw cooling water from the Suwannee River, said Progress Energy spokesman Buddy Eller. He did not have details on that this morning. More details will be available later this year, when Progress Energy asks state regulators for permission to build the plant, Eller said.
Progress Energy included plans for the 1,200-megawatt plant in its 10-year site plan, due to the Florida Public Service Commission today.
Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or (813) 225-3117.
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