Crystal River Energy Complex

From Global Energy Monitor

Crystal River Energy Complex is an operating power station of at least 3448-megawatts (MW) in Crystal River, Citrus, Florida, United States with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Crystal River Energy Complex Crystal River, Citrus, Florida, United States 28.957031, -82.700583 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 4, Unit 5: 28.957031, -82.700583
  • Unit CC1, Unit CC2: 28.9656, -82.6977

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology CHP Start year Retired year
Unit 1 retired coal - bituminous 440.5 subcritical 1966 2018
Unit 2 retired coal - bituminous 523.8 subcritical 1969 2018
Unit 4 operating coal - bituminous 739.2 subcritical 1982
Unit 5 operating coal - bituminous 739.2 subcritical 1984
Unit CC1 operating[1] gas[1] 985[1] combined cycle[1] no[1] 2018[1]
Unit CC2 operating[1] gas[1] 985[1] combined cycle[1] no[1] 2018[1]

CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
Unit 1 Duke Energy Florida LLC [100.0%]
Unit 2 Duke Energy Florida LLC [100.0%]
Unit 4 Duke Energy Florida LLC [100.0%]
Unit 5 Duke Energy Florida LLC [100.0%]
Unit CC1 Duke Energy Florida, LLC[2] Duke Energy Corporation [100.0%]
Unit CC2 Duke Energy Florida, LLC[2] Duke Energy Corporation [100.0%]

Project-level coal details

  • Coal source(s): Omni Coal Buckhorn 2 Mine; Resource Energy; Alpha Coal Roxana and Pioneer Prep Plants; Arch Coal Kentucky River Loading; James River Coal 76 Plant; Fork Creek 1 Mine

Background

In December 2008, Progress Energy Florida announced it will close two of the state's worst polluting coal-fired generators when its new Levy County nuclear plant is up and running in 2020. The company said the closure of two units at its Crystal River Energy Complex represents the equivalent of removing 830,000 vehicles from Florida's roads. The decision follows months of talks with state officials, including Gov. Charlie Crist and Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael W. Sole, said Progress Energy Florida chief executive Jeff Lyash. Crist has hoped to reduce state carbon dioxide emissions to the 1990 level by 2025. The scheduled closure of the two Crystal River plants means the company would be 60 percent of the way toward the governor's goal, according to Progress Energy officials. Independent studies have listed the two coal plants among the nation's top 50 polluters.[3]

The energy created by the two Crystal River coal plants, which opened in 1966 and 1969, will be replaced by the new nuclear plant set to be built at a cost of $17-billion in Levy County. Two coal-fired power generators will remain in operation at the Citrus County site, as will a nuclear reactor. Progress Energy will spend $1.3-billion installing air emission-reduction equipment at the two remaining coal-fired plants. Early in 2007, Progress Energy won approval to raise bills 25 percent starting in January to pay for higher 2008 fuel costs and for early costs of the $17-billion nuclear project. The nuclear charge will add about $13 a month to the bill of the average residential customer, about 10 percent more.[3]

Coal to natural gas

A new 1,640-megawatt CCGT plant is planned to be built on 400 acres of land adjacent to the company’s Crystal River complex and would start producing electricity in 2018. Two coal-fired units at Crystal River, units 1 and 2 totaling 964.3 MW, are expected to be shut down that same year.[4]

The gas plant was completed in November 2018, and the coal-fired units retired at the end of December 2018.[5]

Emissions Data

  • 2006 CO2 Emissions: 16,026,758 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions: 95,548 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
  • 2006 NOx Emissions: 35,412 tons
  • 2005 Mercury Emissions: 550 lb.

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Crystal River Energy Complex

In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[6] The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma-related episodes and asthma-related emergency room visits, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, peneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal-fired power plants. Fine particle pollution is formed from a combination of soot, acid droplets, and heavy metals formed from sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and soot. Among those particles, the most dangerous are the smallest (smaller than 2.5 microns), which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities.

The table below estimates the death and illness attributable to the Crystal River Energy Complex. Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.[7]

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Crystal River Energy Complex

Type of Impact Annual Incidence Valuation
Deaths 76 $560,000,000
Heart attacks 100 $11,000,000
Asthma attacks 1,100 $60,000
Hospital admissions 54 $1,300,000
Chronic bronchitis 44 $19,000,000
Asthma ER visits 69 $26,000

Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011

Citizen groups

Articles and Resources

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 "U.S. Energy Information Administration, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (November 2019)". Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860 detailed data with previous form data (EIA-860A/860B), 2018". Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Aaron Sharockman, "Progress Energy to close two coal-fired generators in 2020" St. Petersburg Times, Dec. 19, 2008.
  4. Jim Saunders, "Duke Energy Florida plans to scrap coal power plants, switch to natural gas," News Service of Florida Wed, May 14, 2014
  5. Heather Danenhower, "Coal-fired units to retire this month," Chronicle, Dec 17, 2018
  6. "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
  7. "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010

Additional data

To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datases, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.