Florida Power & Light topples 495-foot chimney stack to make way for solar energy center
Credit: Florida Power & Light
INDIANTOWN, Fla. - Florida Power & Light imploded the towering chimney stack of its last coal-fired generating plant on Wednesday, a milestone in its transition to cleaner energy sources.
Puffs of smoke came from the base of the 495-foot stack and then it fell to the side in one piece, kicking up a large cloud of dust as it smashed into the ground.
A demolition company used 171 pounds of explosives to implode the stack and an adjoining conveyor building in Indiantown, 30 miles (about 50 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach.
The plant was built in 1995 and FPL purchased it in 2016. It shut the plant down more than two years ago.
FPL will tear down the rest of the plant later this year. The company hasn’t said what it will do with the site, but it has been investing heavily in natural gas and solar-powered plants.
FPL is the state’s largest electricity producer, serving most of the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast south of Tampa Bay, including Sarasota and Manatee counties.