April 21, 2008

Power Generation

TransAlta-Alstom partnership takes aim at carbon-capture project

Richard Gilbert

staff writer

Canadian power generation company TransAlta Corp. has struck a deal with France’s Alstom to develop a carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) project in Alberta.

Carbon capture and storage is an approach to mitigate global warming by capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from large point sources such as fossil fuel power plants and storing it instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.

Technology for large scale capture of CO2 is already commercially available and fairly well developed.

Although CO2 has been injected into geological formations for various purposes, the long term storage of CO2 is a relatively untried concept and as yet no large scale power plant operates with a full carbon capture and storage system.

Calgary-based TransAlta Corporation announced on April 3 that it had signed an agreement with the international power generation and rail infrastructure company.

The joint initiative will be a pilot project for Alstom’s proprietary Chilled Ammonia Process, which TransAlta believes is a promising and low cost solution.

A company press release, states that coal-fired generation accounts for almost half of the generating capacity in North America.

TransAlta and Alstom believe it is essential that processes be developed to find an economically viable way to retrofit existing infrastructure.

The companies plan to test the technology at one of TransAlta’s coal-fired generating stations west of Edmonton and reduce current carbon emissions by one million tonnes per year.

“We think it is important to advance the science of CCS if Canada, and the world, are to effectively reduce CO2 emissions,” said Steve Snyder, president and CEO of TransAlta.

“Over the long term, we believe CCS can be a source of competitive advantage for TransAlta and for Canada. These initial projects, however, are not commercially viable at this point, and will not proceed without industry and government partnerships.”

The first phase of the overall project aims to advance and improve the understanding of CO2 capture and storage technology. It will begin this year with engineering, stakeholder relations and regulatory work.

The pilot and subsequent phases are expected to continue over the next five years at a cost of about $12 million. Testing is expected to commence in 2012.

“Our project with TransAlta is a key part of our objectives for the early deployment of the technology. There will be no CCS without storage, and we are aware of the favorable geological conditions in Alberta, Canada. That is why we have set this region as a priority for our development efforts,” said Philippe Joubert, Alstom executive vice president.

TransAlta has also partnered with experts at the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy, part of the University of Calgary, to quantify CO2 sequestration potential in the Wabamum area west of Edmonton.

The results, due in January 2009, will provide a scientific assessment of potential sequestration sites in the area surrounding several power plants including their capacity and security.

TransAlta is a power generation and wholesale marketing company, which operates 51 power plants in Canada, the US, Mexico and Australia.

TransAlta is the Alberta’s largest electrical generator, with 4,882 mW produced in 2005.

About 25 percent of the world’s electricity is generated by Alstom technology. The Group employs 70,000 people in 70 countries.

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