Hydro quietly closes last coal generator
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/01/2019 (2605 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
BRANDON — The province has closed the book on coal-powered energy production, with Manitoba Hydro shutting down its final remaining generator.
The Brandon station’s coal generator — the province’s last in operation — was taken offline Aug. 1, 2018, more than six months ahead of schedule, the Brandon Sun has learned.
Manitoba Hydro media relations officer Bruce Owen said Tuesday the move came after the Bipole III transmission line went online July 4 (also an unheralded event), making Unit 5 no longer necessary for southern Manitoba’s energy security.
The province had not previously made the news public.
“With federal legislation and provincial legislation regarding carbon, the end of coal was coming… this year, but with Bipole III coming into service, it was sped up,” Owen said.
Two natural gas-powered generators were commissioned to replace the coal capability at the Brandon plant in 2002. Its other coal-powered facilities — units 1 through 4 — were shut down between 1992 and 1996.
The Bipole III transmission line brings power to the southern part of the province from hydroelectric dams in northern Manitoba. Commissioned by the previous NDP provincial government, it was called a “boondoggle” by Tory Premier Brian Pallister when he was leader of the Opposition in 2014.
The massive, $4.6-billion project was switched on last summer, with little public fanfare.
Owen said Unit 5 will be converted to a synchronous condenser, which will run as a motor synched to the power grid to help stabilize power supply. He said it is planned to operate as such until approximately 2045.
The remaining coal at the east-end Brandon facility was sold off or disposed of when the generator was taken offline, Owen said, noting he didn’t know if there were any job losses in Brandon related to the shutdown.
— Brandon Sun