The federal government is beginning to indicate to energy companies that new or refurbished coal-fired power plants will not be a welcome component in Canada’s electricity generation system:
Under Ottawa’s proposal, power companies would have to close their coal-fired facilities as they reach the end of their commercial life, largely over the next 10 to 15 years. The companies would not be allowed to refurbish the plants to extend their usefulness or replace them with new coal units, unless they include technology to capture the carbon dioxide and sequester it underground.
If they follow through on this, and give businesses the level of certainty necessary to prevent investment in new coal-fired facilities, this could be quite a step forward.
That said, the toughness required to make a moratorium on new coal effective isn’t necessarily demonstrated in the government’s recent statements, for instance in their assurance that “government intends to set flexible rules that would not force them to close down the plants at an arbitrary date.”
In total, Canada has 21 operating coal plants. Four are in Ontario, and it has already been legislated that they will shut down by 2014. By contrast, enthusiasm for coal is undiminished elsewhere – especially in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Capital Power and TransAltra are partnering to build the 450 megawatt Keephills 3 unit, which would go on producing large amounts of greenhouse gases for many decades.
Meanwhile, CEZ, the Czech national electricity company, continues to claim that CO2 is a : “harmless gas, inhaled by plants and creating bubbles in beverages.”
“Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice met last week with chief executives of energy companies in the country to push the phase out of coal-fired power plants. Prentice said the power companies must shutter their coal-fired facilities upon reaching the end of the plant’s commercial life, estimated to run for 10 to 15 more years.
Prentice said the energy companies would not be permitted to refurbish their plans to extend the facility’s life or replace it with new units still running on coal. The only exception to that is if they would use carbon capture technology and trap the carbon dioxide emission underground.
The gradual phase out of coal-fired plants is part of Ottawa’s plan to hike Canada’s reliance on clean energy sources to 90 percent by 2020 from the present 75 percent.”
Has Ottawa put moratorium on conventional coal power?
April 26th, 2010
Saw a few stories today, based on an article that appeared in the Globe and Mail, suggesting the federal government has drawn the line when it comes to coal-fired power plants, or at least the kind of plants that don’t capture and permanently store their CO2. Canada’s federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice apparently met last week with the nation’s top power company executives and made the government’s intentions clear. According to the Globe, “Under Ottawa’s proposal, power companies would have to close their coal-fired facilities as they reach the end of their commercial life, largely over the next 10 to 15 years. The companies would not be allowed to refurbish the plants to extend their usefulness or replace them with new coal units, unless they include technology to capture the carbon dioxide and sequester it underground.â€
Does this amount to a moratorium on dirty coal? It seems like it does, but the targets are pretty soft and you can bet this government will be so flexible with industry — particularly in Alberta and Saskatchewan — that the effect of this moratorium won’t be felt for a least two decades. And that, unfortunately, is too late to matter. Just how the feds will define “end of useful life†or “refurbishment†can have a dramatic effect on the outcome. Coal plants don’t need major refurbishments. Like refineries, they are in constant repair and maintenance mode. Like an old car, as long as you keep repairing stuff when it breaks it can run forever, really. So you can expect existing coal plant owners, such as TransAlta, to drag this out for a long time. Even worse, TransAlta — the country’s worst polluter – is still building new coal plants, hoping to slide them in under the bell. This includes two projects totalling 500 megawatts that will be in service next year. Those plants could run for 40 or 50 years!