Brandon coal plant has 3 years left

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This article was published 06/09/2016 (3424 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — Manitoba Hydro’s last coal-fired generator will be mothballed in 2019, the plant manager said.

Kim Gibson, who manages the plant on the eastern outskirts of Brandon, said the 105-megawatt generator will be taken off the grid in three years.

“I think coal is off the map,” Gibson said.

Manitoba is one of the smallest users of coal due to the province’s reliance on hydro power and natural gas.

The federal Liberal government recently pushed to accelerate the phasing out of coal-fired power in Canada as part of its climate strategy, the Globe and Mail reported.

The Justin Trudeau-led government made the proposal at recent talks with the province on the pan-Canadian climate plan. While no new deadline has been set for eliminating coal, the current goal of 2040 is expected to be pushed up.

Manitoba is expected to be well ahead of those targets.

Gibson said the Brandon plant runs only during weekdays for about eight months when the coal is heated in a 12-storey boiler. The boiler converts water into steam, which turns a turbine coupled to a generator.

At full speed, the plant could burn through a tonne of coal per minute, Gibson said.

“The premise is to keep the staff efficient and proficient running it,” he said, adding it runs at about half-speed, putting between 40 and 60 megawatt onto the grid.

In the winter it is turned into a synchronous condenser as the turbine spins free.

“It helps to stabilize the voltage,” Gibson said.

Through attrition, the plant is down to 61 employees from 85 in 2013.

Gibson said there will still be plenty of work after the coal portion of the plant shuts down because the majority of the power generated from the station will come from a pair of natural gas-powered turbines that were commissioned in 2002. Those turbines can also run on diesel fuel in case of an emergency.

“The market doesn’t demand that we convert it to gas, but the equipment will be kept in a state that it could be used as gas and that it can be used as a synchronous condenser,” Gibson said.

The plant operates on coal from the Powder River Basin in Montana. Coal from that area is considered some of the best in the world, Gibson said.

The Brandon plant has operated a precipitator since 1996. It’s designed to take ash and particulates out of the steam, however, it doesn’t have any form of carbon capture.

— Brandon Sun