While Canada and Saskatchewan mosey along toward a reduction in greenhouse gases, there are encouraging signs being posted along the way that suggest taking the “clean coal” route, at least as a short-term (40-50 year) solution, has been a good one.
The Boundary Dam Unit 3 (BD3) pilot project is doing what it was intended to do, and then some, nine months in.
Critics who continue to call for more wind turbine production point to the supposed $1.47 billion cost of the BD3 project as being the cost of implementing this carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide capture plant. The cost of the capture island was closer to $700 to $800 million, not the touted $1.47 billion. Nearly half the cost is attributed to the overhaul of the Unit 3 infrastructure and the purchase and installation of a completely new power generator that had nothing to do with carbon capture and everything to do with updating machinery, equipment and housing.
With a test facility going into service at the sister station and the Aquistore facility now in operation, plus the sales of CO2, the economic argument for BD3 and CCS is compelling. Add to that, the relatively stable cost of the power plant’s fuel supply, and you have something on which to base your case in defence of coal as an electrical power fuel source, at least for a few more decades.
It’s not the environmental answer, but it is better than the proposed alternatives at this stage of our country’s development.
Admittedly, Canada’s and Saskatchewan’s environmental targets are low. BD3 will easily meet these requirements.
Further evidence that BD3 is no experimental white elephant is seen in recent reports that suggest TransAlta Corp. in Alberta are in the process of reviving their carbon capture project. This time, at their Sundance plant near Edmonton. They too, have potential buyers for the CO2 which helps solidify the economics of their proposed $1.4 billion project. Their earlier attempt was at their Keephills 3 plant.
They will do it without any federal subsidization, said company officials.
Perhaps, thanks to the Boundary Dam project, the business case is being made, at least in geographic areas where the captured gas can be used as a value-added product. Off-hand, we can see where the model could be repeated in North Dakota and Wyoming in the United States.
Furthermore, SaskPower employees who have worked with coal, do so efficiently.
Much has been made recently about the rising wages at the provincial power giant. A lot of those salaries were temporarily bumped up thanks to additional hours on the job due to this project and other demands of a growing province where power needs are outstripping population growth.
SaskPower employees know a lot about how to build, clean, repair and maintain coal-fired power plants. We’re not sure how much they know about inspecting, repairing and climbing up and down wind turbines to carry out necessary inspections, repairs and replacements. Are these jobs for the current wind turbine inventory done by employees or does SaskPower need to sub-contract these duties? If so, what are those costs compared with the “in-house” talent pool we have for coal, natural gas and hydro-powered plants?
Sometimes seeking an obvious solution to GHG problems becomes a bit more complex than one sees on the surface.
For the time being, we’re favouring the traditional while applauding the endeavours to seek out solutions to environmental degradation. The future is in good hands on this file.
