Gasification as a solution
EPCOR is leading Canadian efforts to commercialize gasification technology to provide a long-term source of clean power to sustain our growing communities and their economies. By turning coal, oxygen and water into synthesis gas – and capturing carbon dioxide – we can dramatically reduce greenhouse gas and smog-related emissions to produce electricity that’s cleaner than the best natural gas facility.
Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) is a process that has an emissions profile fundamentally different from conventional coal-fired plants. A gasification facility converts oxygen, water and coal into synthesis gas (syngas), which consists predominantly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
Through a "shift reaction", the carbon monoxide can be converted to carbon dioxide and more hydrogen. The hydrogen can be used in a combined cycle power facility while carbon dioxide can be captured, sequestered or used in enhanced oil recovery applications. With IGCC, impurities are removed before the syngas is burned in a gas turbine to produce power.
Waste heat from the gas turbine and other process sources is used to produce steam which powers a steam turbine for electricity production. This differs from conventional power plants where coal is crushed, fed into a boiler, and then burned. Emission control to IGCC levels at a conventional coal fired plant is post-combustion.
In addition to power generation, gasification plants can produce more than one product and this is known as polygeneration. For example, syngas can be used as a fuel, as a petrochemical feedstock, or further processed into hydrogen for use by bitumen upgraders and crude oil refineries. The range of products immediately obtainable from syngas includes substitute natural gas or bulk chemicals like ammonia and methanol.
Genesee IGCC Project
EPCOR is conducting front-end engineering and design (FEED) work on an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle technology (IGCC) plant that would turn sub-bituminous coal into synthesis gas and hydrogen. The work is being undertaken at our Genesee site, west of Edmonton, in conjunction with the Canadian Clean Power Coalition, chaired by EPCOR Senior Vice President Dr. David Lewin.
To date, we have committed up to $11 million, and the Alberta Energy Research Institute and Natural Resources Canada have provided matching funds. The 500+ megawatt plant is being designed with CO2 capture as a critical element of the design, facilitating the injection of CO2 underground for long-term sequestration, or for use in enhanced oil recovery. The combination of IGCC and CO2 sequestration, at this scale, has not been used anywhere else in the world.
The use of CO2 for enhanced oil recovery is a proven technology with commercial applications in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, the United States, and internationally. Genesee is located close to oil fields nearing a stage when CO2 could be used to produce incremental oil to extend their lifespan.
FEED Milestones
Conceptual engineering and feasibility studies undertaken mid-2001 to 2004
Phase I findings establish gasification of Alberta coal as the best technology for further development over amine scrubbing and oxy-fuel, February 2004
Phase ll focuses on adapting technology to Alberta coal, removing emissions of concern, commercial-scale geological storage of CO2, cost competitiveness and certainty, and construction and operation in a northern climate
Genesee IGCC Project Timelines
Front-end engineering and design is scheduled for completion in 2009, following which a consortium of investors would be in a position to make the decision on building a utility-scale pilot plant. If approved, the FEED study would be followed by environmental permitting for construction in Alberta.
An IGCC plant would enter construction as early as 2010, and would be operational by 2015. |