SaskPower remains on track to capture 800,000 tonnes in 2016
Despite being offline for almost half of August due to overruns in planned maintenance and a minor electrical fault, SaskPower remains on track to capture 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2016. The company called its Boundary Dam Unit 3 "the cleanest fossil fuel power unit in the country." The energy company continues to meet emission regulations, and no maintenance is planned for September.

The carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Power Station underwent maintenance in August, and it was online for a little more than half of the month.

The carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Power Station underwent maintenance in August, and it was online for a little more than half of the month.

Early on in August, a minor electrical failure at the power unit kept the unit off-line, which meant no flue gas was available for the carbon capture facility for several days.

“This is not unusual for power units, but it did impact monthly capture totals,” SaskPower stated in its monthly report for the CCS facility.

Planned maintenance for inspection and cleaning also occurred later in the month, and was more extensive than originally planned. As a result, the outage lasted approximately 10 days.

The CCS plant was able to capture 38,679 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which was below the 12-month average of 50,418 tonnes captured. The amount of carbon dioxide captured was about 39 per cent of maximum capacity.

SaskPower remains on track to capture 800,000 tonnes in 2016, and continues to meet emission regulations and the needs of Cenovus, which purchases the captured CO2 from SaskPower.

“Boundary Dam Unit 3 is currently the cleanest fossil fuel power unit in the country,” SaskPower said in the report.

Also in August, the daily average for CO2 captured at the plant peaked at 2,645 tonnes, which was above the 12-month average 2,116 tonnes.

More than 1,067,000 tonnes have been captured at the plant since it started operations in October 2014.

The CCS process was online for 52 per cent of the month in August, which is beneath the 12-month average of 66 per cent.

The totals for the tonnes of CO2 captured and the total operating time represented the lowest monthly totals since October 2015, when the plant was shut down for the entire month due to maintenance projects.

The monthly average for power produced was 100 megawatts, which was slightly lower than the 12-month average of 101 megawatts.

No maintenance is planned for September.

The sulphur dioxide/sulphuric acid portion of the process is now commissioned and continues to produce sulphuric acid from captured sulphur dioxide. This will be sold for water treatment and other industrial uses.