Belledune power station
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Belledune power station is a 490-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Belledune, New Brunswick, Canada.[1]
Contents
Location
The undated satellite photo below shows the plant in Belledune, New Brunswick, Canada.
Background
Construction of the plant began in 1991 and it began generating electricity in 1993.[2] Coal is mostly sourced in the United States and South America but local sources mined at Minto, New Brunswick and Sydney, Nova Scotia have been used on occasion.
The Belledune plant is attractive for shipping as it is situated on the shore of Chaleur Bay adjacent to a ship-unloading pier; Terminal II at the Port of Belledune was built in 1991-1992 by the Canada Ports Corporation as part of the Belledune Generating Station project. Terminal II has a 307 metre long wharf with a 28 metre wide apron and depth alongside of 15.9 metres, thus capable of handling up to Capesize vessels of 100,000 DWT. An automated coal continuous ship unloader moves coal at 1750 metric tonnes per hour to stockpiles adjacent to the plant.
As part of the project, the Belledune River was dammed in the early 1990s to create a reservoir approximately 4 km upstream from its discharge point into Chaleur Bay. This reservoir is visible from New Brunswick Route 11 which was built on a new right of way that crosses the southern part of this reservoir, opening in the early 1990s. The construction of the Belledune Generating Station also resulted in the realignment of a 3-km section of local road New Brunswick Route 134.
The plant consumes approximately 1 million tons of coal per year, and currently generates approximately fifteen percent of the province's electricity,[3] while producing roughly thirty percent of the province's air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (among large industrial polluters).[4]
In October 2009 the provincial government announced that it had reached an agreement with Hydro Quebec to sell NB Power to that company. The sale was not completed. The initial memorandum of understanding would have seen NB Power transfer all of its generating assets except for the thermal stations at Dalhousie Generating Station|Dalhousie, Belledune and Coleson Cove Generating Station|Coleson Cove.
The sale of NB Power to Hydro Quebec was canceled in spring 2010, presumably sparing the Belledune Generating Station from any major changes to its operation.
Hydrogen conversion
In February it was reported that 2019 NB Power was involved in a CAD $13 million deal with American company Joi Scientific to develop hydrogen fuel technology that could be used to replace coal at Belledune.[5]
Plant Data
- Owner: NB Power Generation Corp.
- Parent Company: NB Power
- Plant Nameplate Capacity: 490 MW
- In Service: 1993
- Location: Belledune, New Brunswick, Canada
- GPS Coordinates: 47.905962, -65.863468 (exact)
- Coal Consumption:
- Coal Source:
- Number of Employees:
Articles and Resources
Sources
- ↑ Belledune power station, Wikipedia, accessed May 2019
- ↑ FACILITY PROFILE - New Brunswick Power Corporation for the Belledune Thermal Generating Station, Prepared by: Industrial Processes Section, Impact Management Branch Department of Environment and Local Government. September 2014
- ↑ Learn About Electricity, NB Power, accessed May 2019
- ↑ ghgregistries.ca ghgregistries.ca, Jun. 12, 2011
- ↑ NB Power Licenses Mystery Tech to Build a Hydrogen-Powered Electricity Grid, Green Tech Media, Mar. 14, 2019
Related SourceWatch Articles
External Articles
- Phuong Le, "Wash. says deal will cut pollution at coal plant," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 10, 2009.
- Kathy Durbin, "Sierra Club Organizes Effort to Close Coal Fired Plant in Centralia," The Columbian, April 25, 2010
Wikipedia also has an article on Belledune power station (Belledune power station). This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License]
