POWER July 2023 - 18

REINVENTION AWARD
Dania Beach Clean Energy Center:
A Vital Power Resource for
Southeast Florida
Courtesy: Florida Power & Light
Florida Power & Light's Dania Beach site has been producing power for Fort Lauderdale,
Miami, and surrounding communities for more than 95 years. With the latest
modernization project, it's destined to provide power to the area for many more
years to come.
Aaron Larson
T
here are few more popular places
to live in the U.S. than in Florida.
And when it comes to living in Florida,
there are few more popular places
than the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano
Beach metropolitan area. According to
the U.S. Census Bureau, the sprawling
metro area on Florida's southeast coast
ranks ninth in the nation in terms of population
with more than 6 million reported
residents. And when it comes to living in
Florida in the summertime, there are few
more important things than air conditioning,
which means there are few more
important things than power.
A Historic Site in an Important
Location
Florida Power & Light Company (FPL)
was created on Dec. 28, 1925. In its first
year, the company served approximately
76,000 customers in 58 communities.
FPL's first power plant was the Lauderdale
Plant, which was constructed on a
site located along the coast at nearly the
midpoint of the Miami-Fort LauderdalePompano
Beach metro area. The location
has remained a power generation
resource for FPL ever since.
The first repowering of the Lauderdale
Plant took place in 1957 when more
modern (for its time) conventional steam
turbine and boiler technology was installed.
Two banks of 12 simple-cycle gas
combustion turbine units were added to
the site in 1970 and 1972, respectively,
giving the site more than 1,000 MW of
additional peaking capacity. In 1993, the
Lauderdale Plant was repowered again,
this time with two 2-on-1 combined cycle
18
1. The 7HA combined cycle plant ramps up to full load in less than 30 minutes and features a
novel configuration that supports simplified installation and maintenance. Courtesy: GE Vernova
generation units adding more combustion
turbine generators to the site mix.
The recent modernization of the Lauderdale
Plant into what is now known as
the Dania Beach Clean Energy Center
continued FPL's commitment to bring
the most efficient and cost-effective
generation to its customers. The project
transformed what had over the years become
the company's least-efficient combined
cycle power station, into what is
now FPL's most-efficient plant.
The Dania Beach plant is a state-ofthe-art
2-on-1 combined cycle unit. The
new units' heat rate represents a 22%
improvement over the approximate 7,800
Btu/kWh heat rate of the previous Lauderdale
Plant. This results in significant
fuel savings for FPL customers. Dania
www.powermag.com
Beach uses natural gas as its primary
fuel, leveraging the existing gas pipeline
to the site. In the unlikely event of an
extended disruption to the natural gas
supply, Dania Beach is also designed to
burn light fuel oil with an ultra-low sulfur
content as a backup fuel.
FPL has said Dania Beach enhances its
system reliability by improving the loadgeneration
balance in the southeastern
Florida region of the company's service
territory. Beyond the fuel savings, system
reliability improvements, and air
emission reductions, Dania Beach is estimated
to generate significant economic
benefits, including millions of dollars in
tax revenues for local governments and
school districts, and a number of temporary
and permanent jobs.
POWER | July 2023

http://www.powermag.com

POWER July 2023

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