Articles - enersmartNEWS
Adding to the
Grid
By Wade Hemsworth
It sits within sight of Canada's busiest highway, but many of the thousands who drive past what looks like a small factory have no idea it's the source of the electricity that will light the front hall when they get home.
Since
September 2010, TransCanada Corporation has been generating
enough electricity at its plant beside Hwy. 401 in Halton Hills
to provide year-round power to hundreds of thousands of
consumers, through a 20-year contract with the Ontario Power
Authority. To make all that electricity, TransCanada squeezes
every last watt from a steady supply of natural gas, the fuel
that is quickly helping Ontario wean itself off coal,
significantly reducing emissions.
TransCanada's natural gas generating station at Hornby, near the junction with Hwy. 407, has the capacity to feed nearly 700 megawatts into the Ontario grid, using a highly efficient, two-step process that captures energy twice. Its turbines, which operate in a style similar to jet engines, turn shafts, creating energy that is converted into electricity. The flames from the same burners also heat water to make steam, which creates more shaft power. Historically, about one quarter of Ontario's energy came from burning coal. Natural gas, the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, now does much of that work, with much less environmental impact.
The combined cycle natural gas process cuts about 40 per cent of the emissions once produced by generating the same power with coal, says Craig Martin, director of eastern Canada power for TransCanada. "We've already essentially removed coal from the supply stack, and we've done it in a relatively short period of time," Martin says.
The plant is one of many across Ontario that are quickly helping the province with its mandate to eliminate coal as a source of electricity by 2014. Almost overnight, the switch to natural gas means much less smog, less particulate matter and less greenhouse gas from a proven and reliable alternative.
Union Gas supplies 18 gas-fired plants that create power for the grid, of which Halton Hills is one of the largest. "TransCanada owns and operates power generation infrastructure across North America and we're focused on providing safe, clean, affordable energy solutions," Martin says. "Halton Hills was certainly a project that fit the bill for us."
With natural gas at its lowest price in a decade, and known supplies projected to last at least another century, such plants as the Halton Hills facility are considered essential drivers of a new energy mix that will include nuclear power and renewable sources such as wind and solar power. Since renewable sources are weather-dependent, they can only supply power intermittently.
Natural gas is a reliable, on-demand source that guarantees a steady supply of electricity in all weather, says Martin. What's more, he says, a natural gas fired generating station operates on a much smaller footprint than a wind farm, for example. Using domestic fuel to generate energy at home also creates jobs and positive economic impact.
Building a station such as the one at Halton Hills – a $700-million project – requires just a fraction of the time and money that it would take to commission a nuclear power plant, adding to the attraction of natural gas as a flexible alternative while a new, permanent blend of power sources takes form, Martin says. "It's a great safety net," he says. "It's a low-cost hedge of our bets."
The timing works well for TransCanada and for individual consumers alike, explains Dave Dent, manager of strategic power for Union Gas." It's a really good value, not only for customers who heat their homes and their water, but also for generating electricity as well," he says. "We're proud to be a part of that."
There is ample supply available at affordable prices to meet the demands of both, Dent says, meaning there will be enough to light the front hallway and the furnace for generations to come.
Go to
uniongas.com/aboutus for the top-10 reasons we use natural
gas and to watch a video showing how it touches everyone's life
every day of the year.
