CITRUS COUNTY, Fla- — Saturday morning, Duke Energy demolished the stacks at the old Crystal River coal plant.
With a countdown from 10, more than 350 explosives with a force of about 300 pounds imploded two 500-foot-tall stacks at Duke Energy’s Crystal River coal plant in Citrus County.
The energy company says the two-unit coal plant was built in the 1960s, produced 915 megawatts of energy, and operated in Florida for 50+ years.
The two powerhouses consisting of boilers, steam turbine generators, drums, motors, pumps and pipes were imploded in June. 100% of the steel, copper, and other metals, along with the concrete, are set to be recycled.
"We retired the plant in 2018 when the new state-of-the-art Citrus Combined Cycle Station, a natural gas plant, started serving customers. We are 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 plan. That plan calls for reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. The next steps include grading and seeding the land and restoring the site."- Duke Energy
The company says there are no plans to sell the site at this time.
