Two international energy organizations are contributing to a feasibility study for construction of Canada’s first ‘clean coal’ power plant.

EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute), based in Palo Alto, Calif., will contribute $238,000 Cdn over three years to the Canadian Clean Power Coalition (CCPC).

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Greenhouse Gas R&D and Clean Coal Centre Programs, based in London and Cheltenham, England, have also committed $238,000.

The total investment by member companies and organizations, together with government agencies, is nearing $5 million for the feasibility study phase of the project.

The long-term goal of the CCPC is to develop and commercialize new technology that will virtually eliminate air emissions of concern, including carbon dioxide, from coal-burning power plants.

“We support the CCPC program because it will demonstrate the clean use of coal and lead to a greater global understanding of the costs, technology requirements and issues involved in using CO2 control technology,” said Stuart Dalton, EPRI’s product line director for fossil and emission control.

“We are very pleased to be involved with this project, which will make a major contribution to the demonstration of technologies to almost eliminate emissions from coal-based power stations,” said John Topper on behalf of the IEA collaborative agreements.

The first phase of the project, leading to the selection of the technology to be used, will be completed in 2003.

By 2007, the CCPC plans to retrofit an existing coal-fuelled power plant and operate it as a full-scale demonstration facility to test the technical, environmental and economic viability of new clean-coal technology.

Phase 1 work is also expected to result in a new, or ‘greenfield’ plant, being designed, built and in operation by 2010 to serve as the prototype for future plant construction.

The Canadian Clean Power Coalition is an association of leading Canadian coal and coal-fired electricity producers, including ATCO Power, EPCOR, Luscar, Nova Scotia Power, Ontario Power Generation, SaskPower and TransAlta.

EPRI is a non-profit centre for public-interest energy and environmental research, while the IEA investigates technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Web watch:
www.canadiancleanpowercoalition.com