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SaskPower provided an update on the clean coal demonstration project during the March 8 meeting of Estevan City Council.
Clean coal project manager Doug Daverne did most of the talking during a 40-minute presentation. He was joined by engineer Doug Nixon, environment management issues supervisor Bernie Bolen and Boundary Dam Power Station plant manager Mike Zeleny.
If the project proceeds, the aging Unit 3 at the Boundary Dam Power Station will be retrofitted into a clean coal demonstration project that will capture 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, and generate 110 to 115 megawatts of electricity.
An additional three million barrels of oil will be generated each year through enhanced oil recovery efforts associated with the demonstration project.
“Boundary Dam Unit 3 is one of the first units that comes up for discussion,” said Daverne. “But there are other ones that will come up for discussion in the next five to 10 years.”
Regardless of whether the project receives final approval, something will have to be done with Unit 3 and several other units at Boundary Dam, Daverne said. Retirement of the units would be the default option without the retrofits.
Clean coal is one of several options that the provincial government is looking at to address SaskPower's aging fleet of power generating facilities. There is also a growing demand for electricity in the province. Natural gas and polygeneration plants are among the other short-term possibilities.
The provincial government will select the power generating option that has the lowest cost of electricity, Daverne said. The Unit 3 retrofit is expected to cost about $1 billion. But if a market for captured carbon dioxide can be found through enhanced oil recovery, then that will offset some of the costs to construct and run the demonstration unit.
“I think this is probably the first utility that's trying this on a commercial basis,” said Daverne. “There are some utilities that have announced a CO2 capture project on the scale of what we have here. But nobody has announced a project and said 'We're going to do the package on a commercial, cost-effective basis.'”
A decision on the clean coal plant will be made by the end of the year. If the project receives approval, Daverne said they will begin construction in early 2011, with an estimated completion date in 2013.
Construction will likely involve 300 to 400 people, Nixon said, but there could be as many as 600 people during the peak time.
