NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — The Anclote Power plant is celebrating a special milestone — 50 years of being in operation.

What You Need To Know

  • The Anclote Power Plant is celebrating 50 years of operation this year

  • With so many years of service, operating the plant requires quite the manpower with some very dedicated employees

  • After hurricanes Helene and Milton, the plant was able to remain open

It requires quite a bit of manpower to operate the plant, a duty done by some very dedicated employees.

Standing as a modern marvel, even for general manager Tony Salvarezza, who’s been employed at the plant for almost 47 years.

“I started here as a laborer in 1978 sweeping the floors- the very floors that we’re standing on right now was the floor that I swept,” said Salvarezza. “Sometimes I come through the gate here and I look at these powerhouses and think, ‘How is that thing even sustaining operation 50 years into its life?’”

With a natural resource like the Anclote River nearby, the plant makes use of its water. It’s an important resource, Salvarezza says, for their whole operation.

“We take this water in through pumps- there are thousand horsepower pumps and motors- and they pump through the plant and the only thing we add to it is some heat,” said Salvarezza. “We heat it up, and it takes the waste heat away from the plant and then we put it back in the Gulf of Mexico untouched, untreated and in normal operations.”

An operation that can be seen first-hand. Noting the difference in height between a running a generator and one on standby.

“Anclote Unit 1 is in operation right now. It’s running at a couple of hundred megawatts- it’s a 500-megawatt unit. A couple of hundred megawatts is enough power for 100,000 plus homes of our customers. So we’re generating that power while we’re standing next to the generator for over 100,000 customers.”

Through back-to-back hurricanes, the plant remained open, with its control room constantly staffed by at least one person.

The plant is built to withstand high winds and water, Salvarezza says, as it stands 20 feet above sea level.

“Because of its location, because of its level, it was able to stay in operation,” said Salvarezza. “Although we had some wind damage and we had some pieces of equipment that got wet, it was able to operate in its sense as old reliable. It continued to operate.”

With new technologies ever evolving, so too will the plant, Salvarezza says. Continuing to power the community.

“As we develop new technologies, we’ll integrate them into some of his old technology to burn less of the carbon intense fuel. That includes solar, batteries and some natural gas,” he said.

Looking towards at least another 50 years of service.