Duke Energy implodes retired coal plant in Florida

Demolition of power houses symbolizes Duke Energy’s transition to cleaner energy

In a matter of seconds, 500 explosive charges imploded two retired power houses at one of Duke Energy’s Crystal River coal plants in Citrus County, Fla.

The two-unit coal plant was built in the 1960s and served customers in Florida for more than five decades. The company retired the plant in 2018 when its 1,640-megawatt Citrus Combined Cycle Station, a natural gas plant, came online.

The 200-foot-tall by 125-foot-wide power houses consisted of boilers, steam turbine generators, drums, motors, pumps and pipes – the main equipment needed to generate 915 megawatts of energy for more than 50 years. Two 500-foot-tall stacks will be imploded later this year.

The steel, copper and other metals, along with the concrete from the power houses, will be recycled.

Duke Energy is retiring coal plants and replacing them with cleaner and more efficient natural gas plants and renewables as part of the company’s clean energy transformation. That plan calls for reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

In Florida, the company will have 27 solar plants in service by 2024 – totaling 5 million solar panels and a $2 billion investment that will provide 1,500 megawatts of renewable energy to Duke Energy’s 1.9 million customers.

2018-1120-crystal-river-today-9
Crystal River coal-fired units 1 and 2 retired in December 2018.