Sask. carbon plan doubles the price of power

[tay]

A wind power proponent says the latest SaskPower rate increases may be just the beginning of increasing electrical rates in the province.

SaskPower is asking for two rate increases this year — five per cent this summer and another five per cent in January.

President of SaskWind James Glennie says a report from Canada's parliamentary budget office shows carbon capture technology will double the price of power generated from the project.

The minister responsible for SaskPower, Bill Boyd, says he hasn't read the report by the parliamentary budget office, but he says reducing greenhouse gas emissions isn't cheap.

"It's something that I think the people of Saskatchewan are aware of," Boyd said. "They know very well that the cost of mitigation in these areas is expensive. The cost of any kind of other alternative sources of energy are going to be expensive as well."

But Glennie says the price of wind power has plummeted in recent years, to a level that makes it comparable with natural gas.

more

Sask. carbon capture plant doubles the price of power - Saskatchewan - CBC News

 

[DaSleeper]

Of course....All of those subsidies for green power increases the cost for consumer.................just like in Ontario!

 

[Johnnny]

The only thing clean energy does is clean out your pocket.

 

[lone wolf]

That's why they call it GREEN energy

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

That's why they call it GREEN energy

Of course, in Canada they should have called it ALL COLO(U)RS energy.

 

[Johnnny]

That's why they call it GREEN energy

So that we can pay America to take the energy after we subsidize it?

 

[lone wolf]

Of course, in Canada they should have called it ALL COLO(U)RS energy.

Canadian transparency ... designed to confuse witnesses so we don't give them the revolt they deserve

 

[Danbones]

When the peeps start burning the legislative buildings down to stay warm
it might be construed that the government is FIRED
with real fire


Greenspeak lesson of the day:
the pain in spain is mainly due to money down the drain
https://stopthesethings.com/2014/06/02/spains-renewable-energy-disaster-draws-to-a-close/

 

[tay]

There's plenty of ugly news coming out about the continued problems with Brad Wall's pet carbon capture and storage project - including thoroughly unimpressive output numbers (link is external), and payouts (link is external) to Cenovus to make up for a failure to deliver the carbon dioxide it's supposed to be capturing.

But perhaps even more worrisome than the project's well-known failures is the limited definition of success.

When it comes to emission standards, SaskPower's own self-declared metric is to "continue meeting federal emission regulations". (Keep this filed away for next time Wall complains about the federal government setting standards: even the single project where he's put any resources into promised emission reductions can't find any coherent provincial goals to try to meet.)

But what does it mean for a carbon capture project to comply with federal standards (link is external)?

One possibility is that it means absolutely nothing for the moment.

When the Harper government set up its regulations governing coal power, it made exemptions available for carbon capture and storage projects. And if it has that exemption, SaskPower can technically "continue meeting federal emission regulations" regardless of how much CO2 it dumps into the atmosphere until 2017.

Even if SaskPower is holding itself to the federal standards for coal plants regardless of any exemption, though, that's far from an ideal outcome.

Even if SaskPower is holding itself to the federal standards for coal plants regardless of any exemption, though, that's far from an ideal outcome.

The federal standards for coal plants are intended only to match the carbon output of existing natural gas plants based on 2012 technology. And those emit (link is external) between ten and a hundred times as many greenhouse gases as renewable alternatives.

So based on SaskPower's self-declared goal, Wall's multi-billion-dollar gamble has a payoff no greater than the possibility of matching the output from existing fossil fuel technology - even as much cleaner alternatives have become far more affordable (link is external).

(And that ignores the emission costs (link is external) of increased oil output which are presumably Wall's reason for pushing CCS in the first place.)

Of course, the money spent on Boundary Dam Unit #3 can't be recouped. But there's no reason at all to keep pouring precious public resources into the CCS money pit - particularly when we can achieve a far cleaner power grid simply by matching what's already working around the world.

 

[tay]

SaskPower’s Boundary Dam carbon capture and storage facility near Estevan has had to pay $1.2 million in penalties in the first seven months of the 2016-17 fiscal year.

A provincial committee heard about the penalties on Wednesday.

Overall, the crown corporation has made $9.7 million in revenue at the plant, which cost taxpayers $1.5 billion to build.

“We have a contracted minimum amount of CO2 that we are expected to produce on an ongoing basis,” Sandeep Kalra, vice-president of SaskPower, told the committee.

When SaskPower is unable to meet the minimum amount in a given timeframe, a penalty must be paid.

There are significant cost overruns being spent on a certain chemical solution used at the plant.

The crown corporation spent $17 million in the 2015-16 fiscal year. During the 2016-17 fiscal year, $18.5 million was spent — about $13.5 million more than expected.

Mike Marsh, president of SaskPower, says the costs will “probably be in excess of $20 (million),” over the next fiscal year, before cautioning such lessons are “not uncommon on start-up facilities.”

In November, there was an electrical failure and a “multiple day outage” at the plant. During the last fiscal year, millions have been spent on maintenance.

The committee also learned that the president for carbon capture & storage initiatives for SaskPower, Mike Monea, is no longer working at the plant. Instead he is working out of the University of Regina on secondment.


SaskPower paying $1.2 million in penalties for not delivering enough CO2 from carbon capture plant | Regina Leader-Post


Still reeling from criticism after the oil spill into the Saskatchewan River earlier this year, Husky Energy announced it’s investing $1 billion dollars into thermal plants in Saskatchewan.

Three steam-assisted heavy oil extraction plants will be set up, all running 10,000 barrels a day, one located in Dee Valley near Maidstone, and two others in the vicinity of Spruce Lake, according to Mel Duvall, media spokesperson for Husky.

“We’ve been growing our thermal production base in this region for some time now. Over the last six years in particular we’ve been growing thermal,” Duvall said. “This area, it’s in the vicinity of Maidstone, both on the south side of the river and on the north side of the river. It’s a good resource base and we’ve found it to be a very good addition for our downstream processing capacity in Lloydminster.”

Each plant will employ 30 full-time employees, with the company looking to bring them online in 2020.

SaskPower paying $1.2 million in penalties for not delivering enough CO2 from carbon capture plant | Regina Leader-Post

 

[petros]

SNC Lavalin implicated in SaskPower carbon-capture problems - Canadian Manufacturing

 

[Mowich]

SNC Lavalin implicated in SaskPower carbon-capture problems - Canadian Manufacturing

Every time I read that people are working.....very, very hard.......my spidey sense perks up - when I read twice in the same sentence, it's on full alert.

Saskatchewan carbon-capture plant hits 800,000 tonnes of CO2 in one year | Globalnews.ca

SaskPower spending more to capture carbon than expected - Saskatchewan - CBC News

Well the 16 mil they say they will make this year will help to offset the 15 mil over-cost on the amine - bet that's a big relief. This project is a mess, pete.

 

[petros]

Yup. But ended another sh-tty dipper deal made with North Dakota. Sask used to buy CO2 from a coal gasification company in ND. Boundary is now meeting SK's EOR needs but falling short on delivery to Cenovus