Coal the wrong power option

In a Dec. 14 Regina LeaderPost story, SaskPower once again defends its carbon capture and storage (CCS) project by trotting out the false claims that coal is clean and low cost.

For decades, SaskPower has spouted millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases (about 14 million tonnes per annum) and other dangerous chemical particulates into the atmosphere from its Boundary Dam, Shand and Poplar River plants. SaskPower is never able to “come clean” and admit coal generation is the dirtiest source of electrical power generation.

Coal is not low cost; as a fuel its price escalates on average by two per cent per year. And coal generation with CCS is extremely expensive, the levelized cost is approximately $150-$160 per megawatt hour, while wind generation is $70-$80/MWh as estimated by Citibank and Lazard Financial Advisory. SaskPower could have chosen to phase out Boundary Dam 3 and build 150 MWh of wind power for half the cost of its CCS project with no greenhouse gas emissions.

It is also concerning that SaskPower does not release the ongoing additional reengineering and legal costs accrued by the CCS project.

To integrate variable and intermittent wind power into Saskatchewan’s grid it is necessary to adopt Danish and German “smart grid” management techniques, which involve putting renewable energy on the grid first, followed by dispatchable, quick-response sources like natural gas. Saskatchewan could also trade energy with Manitoba power during peakuse times.

Brian Banks, Regina