New natural gas pipeline capacity adds service into Florida
Note: Daily natural gas flow data and daily pipeline capacity derived from Florida's Gas Transmission scheduled flow and capacity data from their Pipeline Administrator electronic bulletin board plus Gulfstream Natural Gas System's scheduled flow and capacity data for their Station 100 compressor electronic bulletin board. Pipeline capacity above is approximate. Daily pipeline capacity depends on several factors, such as compressor usage.
Since Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC (FGT) placed its Phase VIII Expansion project in service on April 1, 2011, daily natural gas flows into Florida have exceeded the pre-expanded capacity nearly 50% of the time. Daily scheduled natural gas flows from June 1 through August 29 were over 5% higher than in the same period in 2010, despite temperatures in Florida that were cooler than last summer (cooling degree days were 3% lower this summer compared to 2010). Utilization of natural gas pipelines into Florida has averaged 86% since June 1; in the same time period in 2010, average utilization was 97%.
Over 85% of natural gas consumed in Florida is for electricity generation. In 2010, 55% of the State's electricity was generated with natural gas. The amount of natural gas used for power generation is likely to grow in Florida, as new natural gas-fired electric capacity comes online.
FGT's Phase VIII Expansion project, which included 483.2 miles of new pipeline, compressor upgrades, and compressor additions, increased FGT's design capacity by 0.82 billion cubic feet per day and the peak pipeline capacity into Florida by over 20%.
Tags: natural gas, pipelines