Boundary Dam Power Station
Boundary Dam Power Station | |
---|---|
Estevan No. 5, near Estevan, Saskatchewan | |
Coordinates | 49°5′47″N 103°1′49″W / 49.09639°N 103.03028°W |
Status | Operational |
Commission date | 1959 |
Owner(s) | SaskPower |
Thermal power station | |
Primary fuel | Coal (lignite) |
Turbine technology | Steam turbine |
Power generation | |
Nameplate capacity | 531 megawatts |
] |
Boundary Dam Power Station is the largest
, Canada.Description
The Boundary Dam Power Station consists of[1] two 62 net MW units (commissioned in 1959, shut down and decommissioned in 2014[2]); two 139 net MW units (commissioned in 1970), one of which—Unit 3—was decommissioned and replaced with a new 160 MW unit in 2013;[3] one 139 net MW unit (commissioned in 1973); and one 273 net MW unit (commissioned in 1978).
The boilers are supplied by
The plant has five 300 ft (91.44 m) tall smokestacks.[6] SaskPower has advised that the project has a 30-year life.[7]
Carbon capture and storage demonstration project
The Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration is a project to retrofit the
In 2015, internal documents from SaskPower revealed that there were "serious design issues" in the carbon capture system, resulting in regular breakdowns and maintenance problems that led the unit to only be operational 40% of the time. SNC-Lavalin had been contracted to engineer, procure, and build the facility, and the documents asserted that it "has neither the will or the ability to fix some of these fundamental flaws."[19] The low productivity of the plant had in turn meant that SaskPower was only able to sell half of the 800,000 tonnes of captured carbon dioxide that it had contracted to sell to Cenovus Energy for use in enhanced oil recovery at a cost of $25 per tonne. In addition to the lost sales, this meant that SaskPower had been forced to pay Cenovus $12 million in penalties.[20] In June 2016, and to avoid paying a $91-million penalty, SaskPower renegotiated its CO2 supply contract with Cenovus. That renegotiation means annual revenues are reduced from $25 million to "$16-17 million". Over the 30-year project life this represents reduced revenue of $240 million to $270 million and will further weaken the project economics.[21] Cenovus sold its Saskatchewan interests in 2017 to Whitecap Resources.[22]
Several major publications have noted what they deem poor economics of the project, among them The Economist,[23] The Financial Times,[24] The MIT Technology Review,[25] and The New York Times.[26][27] An April 2016 Parliamentary Budget Office report found that CCS at Boundary Dam doubles the price of electricity.[28]
Financial concerns appear to fall into three main areas:
- negative earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, in part due to the pioneering nature of the project;.[29]
- the existence of cheaper alternatives, such as wind turbines, which urgently need to be developed.[15][30][31]
- the potential for substantial losses for initial investors (Saskatchewan taxpayers and SaskPower ratepayers), in excess of $1 billion [15][32]
Among environmental concerns, critics note that while 90% of CO2 smokestack emissions are captured, only a portion is stored. Almost half of captured emissions end up being released in the atmosphere by processing in the oil field and the capturing process.[33]
Among other concerns, critics point to the following:
- The foremost goal of the CCS project is to keep the aging plant from becoming a stranded asset.
- The unfair sharing of the costs, risks and benefits: Energy consumers are said to be saddled with a "very expensive carbon tax", while Saskatchewan's aging oil industry, namely Weyburn Consortium (formerly headed by Cenovus Energy), which owned the Weyburn oil field until it was sold in 2017[22] receives a "backdoor subsidy."[15][34]
All of these concerns are compounded by a lack of transparency: As of 2015 the project operators had not presented any financial or environmental performance numbers.
In July 2018, SaskPower announced that it would not retrofit Units 4 and 5 with CCS, with minister responsible Dustin Duncan saying that the units were approaching their mandated shut down in 2024 and that natural gas is a cheaper option.[35]
Capital cost
In February 2008 the Saskatchewan government announced that it would proceed with a 7-year reconstruction and repowering of Boundary Dam's Unit 3. The initial project cost was C$1.24 billion[36] out of which C$240-million was from the federal government.[14][37] Budget over-runs have led to the plant having a total cost of some $C 1.5 billion.[38][39]
Revenue
Other than the generation of electricity, the plant will have several by-products which will generate revenue.
Carbon dioxide
The facility planned to capture 90 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions from Unit 3
Most of the total annual carbon dioxide capture volume, at least for the first ten years of the project, was sold to Alberta-based Cenovus Energy,
Sulfuric acid
Most of the sulfur emissions from the power station (predominantly sulfur dioxide) will be captured,[40] converted to sulfuric acid and sold. SaskPower sulphur dioxide emissions are approximately 5 tonnes per gigawatt hour of system generation.[47] Given annual electricity generation of 1,010 gigawatt hours, it follows that total annual sulfur capture will be 5,050 tonnes.
Fly ash
Expenses
There appear to be two main expense items: Operations and maintenance, and
See also
References
- ^ "Plant Description". Archived from the original on 2010-01-05. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
- ^ "BD3 project readied for launch". Estevan Mercury. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
- ^ "Alberici to install turbine for SaskPower carbon capture facility."Electric Light & Power. 1 September 2013
- ^ "Coal Fired Power Plants in Canada - Power Plants Around the World". Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ Snook, M., "Saskatchewan's Best Fishing Hot Spots Archived 2014-12-20 at the Wayback Machine", Western Sportsman. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ "Boundary Dam Power Station". Environment Canada - Detailed Facility Information.
- ^ "Hanley: Questions remain over SaskPower project." The Star Phoenix - 18-Nov-2014.
- ^ "HOW TO DECARBONISE COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS" (PDF). OECD 13th Plenary Meeting of the Policy Dialogue on Natural Resource-based Development. 25 November 2019.
- ^ Anderson, Drew (24 January 2022). "Governments are investing billions into carbon capture in the Prairies. Here's what you need to know". The Narwhal.
- ^ Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Project
- ^ Danko, Pete (2 October 2014). "World's First Full-Scale 'Clean' Coal Plant Opens in Canada". National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021.
- ^ "Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Sequestration Demonstration Project Archived 2014-08-10 at the Wayback Machine" Global CCS Institute
- ^ "Integrated Carbon Capture & Storage Project at SaskPower's Boundary Dam Power Station" Global CCS Institute 2015
- ^ a b "Sask. going ahead with $1.2B carbon capture project | CBC News".
- ^ a b c d "Turns out the world's first "clean coal" plant is a backdoor subsidy to oil producers". 31 March 2015.
- ^ "404".
{{cite web}}
: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ "SaskPower unveils world's first carbon capture coal plant". Shawn McCarthy. Globe and Mail. 2-Oct-2014
- ^ "SaskPower launches world's first commercial CCS process." SaskPower News release. 2-Oct-2014
- ^ Leo, Geoff (October 27, 2015). "SNC-Lavalin-built carbon capture facility has 'serious design issues': SaskPower". CBC News. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ Leo, Geoff (October 26, 2015). "Carbon capture plant delay costing SaskPower millions". CBC News. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ "SaskPower renegotiated contact to avoid $91.8M penalty." The Leader Post. 13-Jun-2016.
- ^ a b c "Cenovus selling majority stake in Weyburn oil project". CBC News. November 13, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
- ^ "Nice try, shame about the price." The Economist. 3-Oct-2014
- ^ "Carbon Capture Faces Viability Struggle." Pilita Clark. Financial Times. 23-Nov-14.
- ^ "A coal plant that buries its greenhouse gases" Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine. Peter Fairley: MIT Technology Review. Dec-2014.
- ^ "Corralling Carbon Before It Belches From the Stack".Henry Fountain: The New York Times. 21-Jul-2014.
- ^ Companies Struggle To Make Carbon Capture Viable Mark Scott. New York Times. 5-Oct-2015
- ^ "Sask. carbon capture plant doubles the price of power." Stefani Langenegger. CBC. 17-Jun-2016
- ^ "Carbon Capture faces viability struggle." Pilita Clark. Financial Times. 23-Nov-2014
- ^ http://www.saskwind.ca/wind-atlas-skthe [permanent dead link] highest power-sector carbon
- ^ "Push for CCS misguided policy." Archived 2014-12-11 at the Wayback Machine Letters - James Glennie. The Star Phoenix. 28-Mar-2014.]
- ^ "CO2 project sequesters tax dollars" Archived 2014-12-09 at the Wayback Machine. Murray Mandryk. The Leader Post: 7-Oct-2014
- ^ "Study: Boundary Dam CCS".
- ^ ""CO2 project sequesters tax dollars"". Archived from the original on 2014-12-09. Retrieved 2014-12-07.
- ^ "No more retrofits for carbon capture and storage at Boundary Dam: SaskPower". The Province. 2018-07-09. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
- ^ "Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Project". SaskPower Fact Sheet: 7211/Apr12
- ^ "Saskatchewan Plans Clean Coal-Carbon Capture Project." 27-Feb-2008. Power Engineering
- ^ "CCS Performance Data Exceeding Expectations at World-First Boundary Dam Power Station #3". SaskPower press release. 11-Feb-2015.
- ^ "Jim Prentice says to wind down carbon capture fund in Alberta, new projects 'on hold'". Geoffrey Morgan - Financial Post. 6-Oct-2014.
- ^ a b "SaskPower Boundary Dam Project" Carbon Capture Journal. July–August 2010
- ^ "Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Project." SaskPower fact sheet. 7211/Apr12.
- ^ "Only still-operating carbon capture project battled technical issues in 2021". www.spglobal.com. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
- ^ Anchondo, Carlos (2022-01-10). "CCS 'red flag?' World's sole coal project hits snag". E&E News. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
- ^ "SaskPower signs 10-year deal with Cenovus Archived 2014-12-11 at the Wayback Machine" Bruce Johnstone Leader-Post. 20-Dec-2012
- ^ "Increasing oil production and reducing greenhouse gas emissions." Archived 2014-12-22 at the Wayback Machine 'Weyburn Project Overview' - Cenovus Energy fact sheet
- ^ ". Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan - Debates and Proceedings. Page 5836. Minister Bill Boyd response to question from MLA Cathy Sproule". Hansard 13-Nov-2014
- ^ SaskPower Sustainability Report 2011. (no longer available on SaskPower site)
- ^ Reference withheld at author request.
- ^ "How Much are Coal Combustion Products Worth?" The American Coal Ash Association Website.
- ^ "Cansolv CO2 Capture: The Value of Integration Archived 2014-12-09 at the Wayback Machine" Devin Shaw. Cansolv Technologies Inc. Oct-2008. Shell website