Keephills 3

TransAlta's Keephills 3 power project is a 450-megawatt coal-fired supercritical generating plant located adjacent to the existing Keephills power plant. TransAlta and Capital Power (formerly EPCOR) are equal partners in the ownership of Keephills 3, with Capital Power responsible for construction. TransAlta operate the facility but Capital Power market their 50 percent share in the plant.

Keephills 3 will use supercritical boiler technology. TransAlta states that "Because less fuel is used to produce the same amount of power, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per MW are lower than a conventional coal plant. Relative to the four Wabamun units being fully retired by TransAlta by 2010, the new plant will emit approximately 60 to 80 per cent less sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX), mercury (Hg) and 24 per cent less CO2 while producing the same amount of power."

Construction on the plant began in February 2007 with the plant being commissioned in September 2011. The capital cost of the project is projected to be approximately $1.6 billion.

Carbon Capture and Storage Hopes raised ... and dashed
On its website in early 2012 Transalta boasted that "Keephills 3 will integrate with Project Pioneer, one of the world’s first demonstration projects to test the full life cycle of carbon capture and storage. The project entails the construction of a large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility to test the viability of the technology at a near-commercial scale. Partners in Pioneer include TransAlta, Capital Power and Enbridge. It is scheduled to be operational in 2015."

However,

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