Florida power plant emits plumes of methane seen from space

A Florida power plant has emitted huge plumes of methane that are visible from space on multiple occasions in recent months, according to satellite data.

Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) gas-fired power plant in Cape Canaveral released pulses of methane at least five times between February and May.

The largest emissions event occurred on April 30th, at around 12:30pm local time. The power plant spewed methane at a rate of over 3,000 kilograms per hour. The image was captured by Carbon Mapper, which uses satellites that can detect large sources of methane.

The satellite imagery shows the plumes of methane drifting over residential areas in Cocoa, Florida.

The persistence and the size of the plumes are unusual, Geoff Bromaghim, director for methane accountability at Gas Leaks, a corporate watchdog group, told Gas Outlook.

“This suggests that there is combustion inefficiency happening” at the facility, Bromaghim said. “Seeing several of these events in a row, it’s obviously suggesting that something’s not working the way it should.” He added that the full extent of the leaks are not known, as Carbon Mapper satellites may not have captured all pollution events.

He added that a power plant that is “persistently leaking” raises questions about how much of the gas resource is being lost, which could impose costs onto ratepayers.

“This is just waste. No one wants to see this kind of thing. I don’t even think not even FPL wants that,” he said.

A spokesperson for Florida’s Public Service Commission, the state regulatory entity that oversees utilities, did not specifically address the methane releases in question, directing pollution questions to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

But the spokesperson added that questions about the management of power plants are raised during formal proceedings each year when regulators set rates for customers. 

“In that proceeding, parties may raise an issue with regard to a utility’s management of its power plants and associated fuel costs,” the spokesperson said. “If, for example, a utility was found to have mismanaged a power plant, then the Commission could disallow some amount of fuel costs for recovery from customers.”

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection did not respond to questions from Gas Outlook.

In response to questions, a spokesperson for Florida Power & Light’s parent company NextEra Energy initially told Gas Outlook that they were working on a response. But the spokesperson did not follow up and did not respond to subsequent inquiries.

Experts say the plumes of air pollution blowing into residential areas could pose health hazards.

“Methane leaks can affect people nearby, including children, the elderly, outdoor workers, and those with medical conditions,” Dr. Ankush K. Bansal, a doctor of internal medicine and a board member of Physicians for Social Responsibility National, said in a statement.

“Methane blocks the lungs’ capacity to normally absorb oxygen, so such leaks can cause dizziness, headaches, nausea, memory loss, difficulty with vision, and trouble breathing. The long-term effects, however, are more serious because with methane leaks, there are likely to be other pollutants such as benzene and formaldehyde, which can increase the risk of cancer, lung diseases, heart diseases, and damage to organs,” he warned.

A global methane monitoring programme sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme said last November that it had issued over 1,200 notifications to governments and companies responsible for major sources of methane pollution over a two-year period, but only 1 percent of those cases received a response.

The International Methane Emissions Observatory uses data from an array of methane satellites, which can detect plumes of methane around the globe. It identifies sources of pollution and then notifies the host government or company involved.

(Writing by Nick Cunningham; editing by Sophie Davies)