Work Starts on Record-Scale Carbon-Capture Powerplant
Construction of what will be the first large-scale commercial carbon capture and storage project in the world began just hours after the Saskatchewan government gave SaskPower the go-ahead on April 26 to build the $1.24-billion plant. The project, at SaskPower's Boundary Dam coal plant, is notable not only for its size but also because it is moving forward at a time when other CCS projects are not because of CCS's high cost.
Mike Monea, a vice president of Sask- Power responsible for the project, insists, “The business case is sound for this project.” If completed as planned in 2014, the No. 3 unit at the plant will have an upgraded boiler and a new turbine in the existing building to produce 150 MW of electricity. About 40 MW of that power would be used to capture sulfur and capture and compress one million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. Both of these products will be sold to help offset the cost of the plant.