A national industry coalition of coal and coal-fired electricity producers has announced plans for Canada’s first “clean coal” demonstration power plant, which they hope will be cleaner than the world’s best natural-gas plant.
The Alberta government has signed on to the initiative and will contribute $550,000 over the next three years toward the $5-million feasibility stage of the project through the provincially funded Alberta Energy Research Institute.
The Canadian Clean Power Coalition (CCPC), a group of coal and coal-fired electricity producers, plans on building and operating a plant by 2007.
The plan will consider both retrofitting an existing coal plant and building a new clean coal “greenfield” plant by 2010. Both aim to develop technology to eliminate carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, mercury and particulate matter and other emissions from coal-burning plants.
The CCPC estimates the cost of the two plants will be about $1 billion over 10 years.
“Canadians are looking for ways to address the complex environmental issues associated with coal-fired electricity generation,” said CCPC spokesperson Don Lowry, who is also CEO for EPCOR.
“The CCPC thinks the answer lies in a multi-fuel approach to electric power generation and the combined efforts of industry and governments to develop the next generation of coal combustion technology.”
Other CCPC members include ATCO Power, Luscar, SaskPower and TransAlta. About one-fifth of Canada’s electricity is generated by coal. Burning coal produces 75 per cent more greenhouse gas emissions than natural gas.
Emissions from Canada’s electricity generation sector increased 17 per cent between 1990 and 1997, according to figures provided by utilities in a national voluntary reporting program.
The Alberta government’s contribution to the clean coal project adds to the $1.67 million already committed by industry for the feasibility study.
Generation technology options such as supercritical pulverized coal, ultra-supercritical pulverized coal, pressurized fluidized bed combustion, integrated gasification combined cycle and advanced gasification options will all be considered.
