Sundance

Sundance is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by TransAlta near Wabamun, Alberta in Canada. The facility is the largest coal-fired electrical generating facility in western Canada, with a total of six generating units. The plant is located 70 kilometers west of Edmonton, Alberta on the south shore of Wabamun Lake. TransAlta's Highvale coal mine supplies Sundance with coal.

Closing units 1 and 2
In February 2011, TransAlta said it will be closing operations at two of the Sundance coal-fired units because repairs would be too costly. The Sundance 1 and 2 units have been down since December 2010. The units comprise 560 MW of the 2,126 MW Sundance power plant, which operates as a baseload facility for the Alberta electricity system.

The closing of the units could cost consumers more than $200 million in unrealized refunds through Alberta’s Balancing Pool. The agency that oversees power purchase agreements would have to pay that amount to TransAlta as net book value of the plants and to TransCanada as partial payment on the remainder of its contract. TransCanada holds the Sundance units' power purchase agreement and expects reimbursement.

Plant Data

 * Owner: TransAlta Centralia Generation LLC
 * Parent Company: TransAlta
 * Plant Nameplate Capacity: 2126 MW
 * Units and In-Service Dates: 2126 MW (1970)
 * Location: Wabamun, AB
 * GPS Coordinates:
 * Coal Consumption:
 * Coal Source:
 * Number of Employees:

Emissions Data

 * 2006 CO2 Emissions:
 * 2006 SO2 Emissions:
 * 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
 * 2006 NOx Emissions:
 * 2005 Mercury Emissions:

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Existing coal plants in Canada
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * Washington (state) and coal
 * TransAlta
 * Highvale coal mine
 * Canada and coal
 * Global warming

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