I notice they have kept the plans of this massive nuke out of the mainstream press.
This nuke is supposed to produce 2200 MW, 20% of the Province's power needs. Can anyone say thats enough to power some oil sands
Areva hopes to build Bruce reactor
By Justin Pot
R-G Staff
Tuesday April 01, 2008
The president of a major producer of nuclear reactors spoke to reporters in Calgary last week.
Armand Laferrere, president of the Canadian branch of French multinational energy firm Areva, gave a presentation to reporters from across the province last week to speak about the company’s plans in Alberta.
Bruce Power, the Ontario-based conglomerate that is seeking to build a nuclear power plant near Lac Cardinal, is considering buying up to two US EPR reactors from Areva; the Areva reactor is one of four possible reactor builds listed in Bruce Power’s application to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
When asked whether Areva’s been in contact with Bruce Power about the plant construction Laferrere said yes.
“We will be one of the technologies looked at; we are talking to them,” he said. “I hope we’ll win but it’s not done yet.”
Various reporters at the conference asked Laferrere if his company intended to build a nuclear power plant in Whitecourt. He responded by saying his company doesn’t operate nuclear power plants -- it builds them when contracted.
“We don’t compete with our customers,” he said.
Laferrere’s presentation outlined his company’s view on the necessity of nuclear power in the province, mentioning the need for a power source to extract oil from the tar sands. He also said that nuclear production “does not emit greenhouse gases at all.”
Bruce Power, meanwhile, is preparing for its first formal open house in the region this month on April 14. CEO Duncan Hawthorne will speak in Peace River’s Bell Petroleum Centre at 7 p.m.; Executive Vice-President Robert Nixon will be in Grimshaw’s Pomeroy Inn. Representatives will also be in Manning and Fairview at the same time.
Province looks to alternatives to meet energy needs
By Kristy Lesh
R-G Editor
Tuesday February 05, 2008
There has been 60 years of nuclear development in Canada but Alberta has yet to go nuclear. Nuclear supplies 15.5 per cent of Canada’ s electricity and 54 per cent of Ontario’s.
Ontario-based Bruce Power, which recently announced plans to buy out Energy Alberta, is proposing to build a twin advanced CANDU reactor on Lac Cardinal near Peace River. It is expected to produce 2,200 MW of electricity which is about 20 per cent of the province’s power.
“Bruce Power believes nuclear energy could play a part in Alberta’s growing energy supply requirements,” said Steve Cannon, spokesperson for Bruce Power, adding the province should consider a range of options.
“We think nuclear can be a cost-competitive, emissions-free alternative in the new supply mix for Alberta.”
In August Energy Alberta submitted an application to Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, for a licence to prepare site. An environmental assessment must now be carried out in consultation with provincial regulators.
The regulation process is expected to take until 2012 with construction and development carrying on until 2017.
In Ontario the nuclear power generated from the Bruce A and B stations sold for 5.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in the third quarter of 2007.
“New generation of all types will be more expensive than the output from existing facilities, but we believe that new nuclear compares favourably with other large power sources such as clean coal and renewables,” said Cannon.
He said the biggest hurdle Bruce Power will face in bringing nuclear energy to Alberta will be dispelling myths.
“We understand the general public in Alberta has little or no real knowledge of nuclear power and its history. As such, there are likely to be misconceptions of nuclear energy and the role it could safely play in Alberta.”
With Canada being the world’s largest producer of natural uranium, Bruce Power doesn’t see fuel supply as an issue. Their partner, Cameco is the world’s largest uranium miner and in Saskatchewan alone, there are 674 million pounds of known uranium reserves.
“That’s enough to meet the current electricity demand for a province the size of Ontario for another 70 years. And those are just the reserves they already know about in Saskatchewan. At the end of 2007, there were 48 different companies exploring for uranium in the Athabasca basin, so we don’t see long-term fuel supply as a major issue for Canada,” said Cannon.
In Canada there are currently about 1.9 million spent fuel bundles, about 15 per cent of which are in dry storage and the remaining in pools.
Last year the federal government accepted a plan presented by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization for the long-term management of nuclear fuel. The plan features centralized containment and isolation of fuel in a deep geological repository, with the option for temporary shallow underground storage.
The provincial government has yet to develop policy on nuclear development in the province. It is expected consultations will be carried out before the decision is made.
Hydroelectric
Another energy alternative being explored for the Peace Region is hydro electricity. Glacier Power, a subsidiary of Canadian Hydro, is looking to build a $320-million weir near Dunvegan capable of generating 100 MW of energy.
“We believe that most folks would agree that a run-of-river hydro such as Dunvegan is a responsible use of a sustainable resource,” said Kelly Matheson, manager of environmental affairs.
She said the Dunvegan Hydroelectric Project will be a long-term asset that will help diversify and support the local economy for the next 100 years.
The Dunvegan Hydro project has been in the works for several years and has faced many challenges. Their initial application to the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board was denied in 2004 and the company resubmitted an application in late 2006.
One of the main reasons the initial application was denied is the lack of information on how ice formation will be affected.
Glacier Power addressed this concern through development of the Peace River ICE Model, a state of the art ice model specific to the Peace River.
“Three years of collaborative work by ice experts from across North America have created an ice model capable of simulating the Peace River ice regime better than any other,” said Matheson.
Glacier Power has proposed a partnership with Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation to offset potential effects to the ice bridge with improved ferry service.
Another concern is how the weir will affect fish populations.
According to research by Glacier Power, the Peace River is home to goldeye, mountain whitefish, walleye, burbot, northern pike, and suckers. There are currently no fishways in operation designed for these species. Given the relatively limited sustained and burst swimming capabilities of these species it was necessary for Glacier Power to consider alternatives fish passages.
The result has been unique fish passage structures that have the capability to become a model for other projects.
Matheson said Glacier Power has worked hard to minimize environmental impacts of the project which has a unique design with lower impact than traditional hydroelectric facilities.
“The Dunvegan Project will provide base-load, renewable power to the northwest region of Alberta which currently has a generation deficit, and it will do this without producing any greenhouse gas, or other air or waste emissions.
Matheson pointed to statistics which show 50 per cent of each dollar spent constructing a hydroelectric facility remains in the regional economy and 300 worker-years of employment are expected during the construction phase with a strong focus on hiring local.
While Glacier Power was unable to provide pricing information on the energy from this project, they expect it to be competitive in the Alberta marketplace.
Glacier Power is hopeful that regulatory process will be completed early enough in 2008 to allow initial construction to begin this year. The construction season lasts just over eight months per year and the project will require four construction seasons to complete.
Wind power
With the recent removal of the 900 MW threshold on wind power generation in Alberta, wind is seen as a viable alternative. With 500 MW of wind power online in 2007, Alberta leads the country in wind power development. More than four per cent of the total installed generation capacity comes from wind power – four times the national average.
According to the AESO Alberta currently has about 545 MW of wind energy connected to the grid.There is also about 8,000 MW of wind generation in the queue, all of which may not come to fruition says Taylor.
“Wind is a great part of the energy mix. It is usually not recommended to rely only on one source of energy but this can certainly depend on how consistent the winds are in that region,” said Ariane Sabourin spokesperson for the Canadian Wind Energy Association.
There are geographic regions that are more favourable for wind energy.
The windiest areas of Canada are along the east and west coasts, in some areas of the far north and in the southern Prairies.
According to Environment Canada’s wind map at www.windatlas.ca, the mean wind speed for Peace River is 4 m/s at a height of 50 m. Outside the Peace River valley the mean wind speed is slightly higher at about 5 m/s.
At 80 m the mean wind speed increases slightly to about 5 m/s and about 6 m/s outside the valley.
In southern Alberta, where there are currently several wind farms, the mean wind speed reaching between 8 m/s and 9 m/s at 80 m.
According to the CWEA the turbines used in Canada are 1.8 MW turbines. Each 1.8 MW turbines can generate power for about 500 homes. However, some wind farms in Canada that are under construction are using bigger turbines (2 MW). Currently Canada in total has 1,770 MW of Wind Energy installed which represents 0.75 per cent of the total electricity demand of the country and is enough to power 537,000 homes.
Current prices range from eight to 11 cents per kWh for wind projects greater than 10 MW.
According to a fellow candidate, Neil Peacock, Grande Prairie-Smoky NDP candidate, is proposing a wind alternative to the nuclear project. He says if each of the 30,000 farmers in Alberta donated land for a 2.0 megawatt wind turbine it would produce the same amount of power as the proposed nuclear plant.
Biomass
According to the provincial government, over the past year a new sustainable energy market has rapidly advanced. Bio-energy is breaking new ground as a carbon-neutral, renewable source of energy that can be produced from agricultural crops, livestock manure, and forestry wood waste. Biofuels are quickly becoming part of Alberta’s energy landscape.
“Bio-energy is an emerging industry in Alberta,” said Hector Goudreau, MLA for Dunvegan-Central Peace. “Developing new and innovative ways of producing energy and electricity are crucial in meeting our province’s energy needs, and expanding Alberta’s energy portfolio.”
There is currently about 178 MW of energy produced in the province through biomass and other forms.
The nearest example of a large scale biomass project feeding the grid is the Grande Prairie Eco Power Centre.
Located next to Canfor’s sawmill site on the city’s south side, the $65-million facility burns waste wood from the sawmill to generate 25 megawatts of electricity.
That power feeds into the grid and is enough to supply about 21,000 households for a year.
“Whenever you convert waste to wealth, everybody is a winner,” said James Keating, CEO of Canadian Hydro when the facility celebrated its grand opening in May 2006.
-with files from Sun Media |
