OREANDA-NEWS. April 24, 2017. NextEra Energy plans to submit its plan to build a new 1,200MW natural gas-fired gas plant south of Fort Lauderdale to Florida state regulators during the second quarter.

The plant, if approved, would be built at a site in Dania Beach, Florida, and could begin serving the customers of NextEra's Florida Power & Light (FPL) by 2022. The plant would replace an oil-fired unit.

FPL and other large electric utilities are increasingly relying on gas-fired power to replace old coal- and oil-fired plants and to curb emissions.

Low natural gas prices will contribute to additional retirements of coal, nuclear and less fuel efficient oil- and gas-fired generation units and lead to greater generation from renewable resources, the company said today during a conference call with investors.

The average gas price last year at Florida Gas Transmission zone 3, which stretches from Stone County, Mississippi, to Santa Rosa County Florida, was $2.62/mmBtu, down by 6pc from a year earlier.