Florida Tops US Switch to Gas
Florida outpaced all other US states between 2008 and 2018 in switching power generation from coal to gas, adding 16 GW of gas-fired generating capacity, 24% of all US installations over that period, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said September 9.
Virginia was the next closest, adding a little over 5 GW.
The boom in gas-fired generation additions pushed the share of natural gas in Florida’s generation mix to 72% in 2018 from just 47% in 2008. Over the same 10 years, coal’s share fell to 13% from 30%, EIA data shows.
Florida’s embrace of gas to generate electricity was made possible, in part, by the growth in pipeline capacity to move natural gas to the state, the EIA said. Between 2008 and 2018, natural gas pipeline delivery capacity to Florida rose to 6.2bn ft3/day from 4.1bn ft3/day.