Saskpower Contemplating Cutting Edge Clean Coal Project

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). SaskPower (Regina, Saskatchewan), a Crown Corporation-owned company, is focusing on solutions with the least environmental footprint as it plans for the future. In order to meet anticipated growth and the looming retirement of generation facilities that were constructed 30 or more years ago, the company is considering using cutting edge technology to generate additional power from coal while reducing air emissions.

Recently, SaskPower along with Hitachi Canada, Limited (Calgary, Alberta), a division of Hitachi, Limited (Tokyo, Japan), and Marubeni Canada, Limited (Vancouver, British Columbia), a division of Marubeni Corporation (Osaka, Japan), announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to proceed with feasibility studies for their clean coal power project. Neill and Gunter, Limited (Halifax, Nova Scotia) has been selected as the primary consultant for the project. Babcox & Wilcox Canada (Cambridge, Ontario), a subsidiary of McDermott International (New Orleans, Louisiana), is also a participant on the project team.

The SaskPower Clean Coal project team is evaluating the feasibility and risks of building a $1.5 billion power plant that would be the world’s first near zero emissions utility-scale pulverized coal plant. The plant would be designed to capture 8,000 tons per day or 3 million metric tons a year of carbon dioxide (CO2) to be sequestered or utilized in the nearby oilfields for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Using this technology would capture at least 90% of the CO2 emitted from the plant. Initially, the power plant will be designed to produce 450 megawatts gross and 300 megawatts net generating capacity by 2012. Once the first phase is operational and proves feasible, a second phase could begin commercial operation in 2016. Before the second half of 2007, the project team expects to reach a conclusion as to whether they will proceed with the project. If the decision is made to move forward, the project will then begin the regulatory approval process.

Currently, there are two existing sites under consideration as the location for the new plant and they are the 300-megawatt (MW) Shand and 611 MW Poplar River Power Stations. The Shand Power Station near Estevan, Saskatchewan is home to a single Babcock & Wilcox boiler driving a Hitachi steam turbine/generator. Shand started commercial operation in 1992. Commercial operation for Poplar River Unit 1 commenced in 1981 and for Unit 2 in 1983. Poplar River has two Babcock & Wilcox boilers and two Hitachi condensing steam turbine generators. Both plants are in relative close proximity to oilfields that could utilize CO2 in enhanced oil recovery operations.

View Plant Profile – 2003143
View Project Report 55000194

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 23 years. IIR is respected as the leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.