CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla., Feb. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 2, 2016, Duke Energy will host a groundbreaking ceremony for the new 1,640 megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plant in Citrus County that will help serve Florida's 1.7 million customers starting in 2018. "Building highly efficient natural gas plants is part of Duke Energy's balanced approach to meeting future demand for reliable and increasingly clean electricity," said Alex Glenn, Duke Energy Florida's state president. "Since 2008, we have reduced our air emissions by nearly 80 percent and our carbon footprint by 15 percent. This state-of-the-art, highly-efficient plant will help us further reduce carbon emissions." The combined-cycle natural gas plant is among the largest under construction in the industry and one of the most important projects for Duke Energy. It will replace generation from plant retirements, including two 1960s-era coal-fired plants.