Energy: Belledune official says he can't see closure happening anytime soon

A5

Benjamin Shingler
Telegraph-Journal

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

The mayor of Belledune is hoping the village's coal-fired electrical power plant will remain open for several more years, even if the proposed energy deal between Quebec and New Brunswick goes through.

Enlarge Photo

Canadaeast News Service Archive

Energy Minister Jack says the coal-fired Belledune power plant is still needed to produce electricity for New Brunswick during the winter.

Under the agreement between the two provinces, New Brunswick would retain control of the Belledune and Coleson Cove thermal generating facilities and sell the power back to Hydro-Québec. Hydro-Québec could direct the province to shut down those facilities with one year's notice.

"If the Belledune plant continues to operate the way that it has, I can't see that happening anytime soon," Belledune Mayor Nick Duivenvoorden said.

Energy Minister Jack Keir says both plants will be needed during the winter - for now.

"There is not enough transmission capacity between Quebec and New Brunswick to supply us with all the electricity needs that Belledune and Coleson Cove give us," he said.

"So (Hydro-Québec) can't supply it, yet. That's why Belledune and Coleson are still very important moving forward."

Regardless of whether the agreement with Hydro-Québec goes through, Keir said that eventually, oil- and coal-burning generating stations will become too costly to operate, particularly if the federal government introduces a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

Duivenvoorden said the Belledune plant is in a good position for the time being since it has been recently uupgraded.

"From a cost perspective, Belledune is in pretty good shape. It probably operates the best coal-fired plant," he said.

"We'd like to wean ourselves off coal, but we're a long ways away from saying we don't have to rely on coal anymore.

The Belledune station, which employs 120 people, is the second-largest fossil fuel-fired generating station in New Brunswick.

It generates up to 490 megawatts of electricity from the combustion of pulverized coal as the primary fuel and petroleum coke as a blended supplemental fuel.

The plant generates about $2 million annually for the municipality, but the impact of the plant goes beyond the tax level, Duivenvoorden said.

Coal shipments for NB Power are one the Belledune port's main sources of revenue.

Aside from the threat to the generating station, Duivenvoorden said the energy agreement would be a positive for Belledune.

Under the proposed deal, energy rates for large industry would drop by about 30 per cent.

"Maybe this is, in effect, the missing link," he said. "We have a great rail service and port, an abundance of available land and a competitive tax rate."

The closure of the Dalhousie Generating Station, meanwhile, appears to be a sure thing. Premier Shawn Graham has said the facility will have to be shut down next year regardless of whether the deal with Quebec goes through.

The 300-megawatt thermal generating station has a contract in place to burn Orimulsion fuel until the end of next June. Once that agreement with Venezuela for Orimulsion runs out, the generating station will be too costly to continue operating, the premier said.