Dalhousie Generating Station

Dalhousie Generating Station
Dalhousie Generating Station, New Brunswick
Country	Canada
Location	Dalhousie, New Brunswick
Coordinates	48°03′07″N 66°22′15″W / 48.051919°N 66.370770°W / 48.051919; -66.370770Coordinates: 48°03′07″N 66°22′15″W / 48.051919°N 66.370770°W / 48.051919; -66.370770
Status	Operational
Construction began	1967
Commission date	1969
Owner(s)	NB Power
Power station information
Primary fuel	Orimulsion
Secondary fuel	Coal
Tertiary fuel	Fuel oil
Power generation information
Installed capacity	315 MW

The Dalhousie Generating Station is a 315 MW Canadian electrical generating station located in the community of Darlington in Restigouche County, New Brunswick.

A thermal generating station operated by provincial Crown corporation NB Power, construction of the plant began in 1967 and the first phase was opened in 1969 when the Dalhousie #1 boiler went on line; at 100 MW, it was designed to burn heavy fuel oil. The 1970s energy crisis saw many eastern Canadian power utilities change their focus from oil sourced in the Middle East to local energy sources. As such, construction began in 1975 on the second phase of the plant which opened in 1978 when the larger Dalhousie #2 boiler went on line; at 215 MW, it was designed to burn coal mined in Minto, NB and Sydney, NS.

The drop in oil prices by the mid-1980s and the age of Dalhousie #1 saw NB Power examine options. The Dalhousie plant was particularly attractive for changing its fuel since it was situated on the shore of Chaleur Bay and had a ship-unloading pier at the nearby Port of Dalhousie to which it was connected by a pipeline (for fuel oil). In 1988, Dalhousie became the site of the world's first large-scale test of orimulsion fuel when 180,000 tons were burnt to produce 0.5 million MWh. This successful test saw NB Power and Bitor America enter into a long term supply agreement of 800,000 tons/year for both Dalhousie #1 and Dalhousie #2; the plant's conversion was completed in 1994 and began burning Orimulsion 100, switching to a different grade Orimulsion 400 in 1998. The 1994 upgrades saw the plant become the third in Canada to install Flue gas desulfurization (FGD) technology which saw the addition of scrubbers for removing particulate pollution.

The plant currently burns Orimulsion and features two boilers and two 168-metre chimneys. The plant consumes 0.8 million tons of Orimulsion per year and currently generates approximately ten percent of the province's electricity[1], while producing roughly eighteen percent of the province's air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (among large industrial polluters)[2][3].

Future

In 2004 the government of Venezuela announced that its state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) would begin scaling down production of Orimulsion and not renew any existing supply contracts once they have ended.[4] This decision threw a wrench in plans by NB Power which was in the process of a $1 billion upgrade to the Coleson Cove Generating Station, converting that plant from heavy fuel oil to Orimulsion based on a signed MoU with PdVSA. The announcement of the PdVSA's cancellation of future Orimulsion production beginning in 2004, as well as the Government of Canada's decision to become the 99th country to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on December 17, 2002 cast a cloud over the future of the Dalhousie Generating Station and NB Power's other thermal generating units.

In October 2009 the provincial government announced that it had reached an agreement with Hydro Quebec to sell NB Power to that company (see Proposed sale of NB Power). The sale was not completed, however, the initial memorandum of understanding would have seen NB Power transfer all of its generating assets except for the thermal stations at Dalhousie, Belledune and Coleson Cove.

After the sale of NB Power to Hydro Quebec was canceled, the provincial government announced that it was placing the Dalhousie Generating Station under a strategic review, since the initial long-term supply contract for Orimulsion with PdVSA expired in June 2010 and was not expected to be renewed. The final delivery of Orimulsion took place in July 2010 and the fuel is expected to supply the generating station until spring 2011. Local residents in the Dalhousie area have been lobbying the provincial government to convert the Dalhousie Generating Station back to coal or heavy fuel oil, citing the loss of many major industrial employers in the region such as a pulp mill and chemical plant.

References