While speculation is rampant about the future of carbon capture and storage (CCS) at the Boundary Dam Power Station, the project had its best month yet in October.
According to data released by SaskPower on Thursday, the CCS facility at Boundary Dam performed efficiently last month. The 85,375 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) captured made last month the highest-performing month since the CCS process came online in October 2014.
“Those captured emissions are the equivalent (of) taking approximately 21,300 vehicles off Saskatchewan roads,” SaskPower stated in the monthly report. “Since operations began, the process has captured and sold or stored 1.75 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.”
The daily average was 2,754 tonnes of CO2 captured, significantly higher than the previous 12-month average of 1,612 tonnes, although the CCS process was offline for the months of June, July and August. The one-day peak for October was 3,043 tonnes of CO2 captured.
The CCS facility also operated at about 85 per cent capacity, compared to the previous 12-month average of 43 per cent.
October also saw the benefits of the upgrades installed this summer. With key components in the process now having a backup, SaskPower was able to perform minor maintenance without having to shut down the whole process; the process was simply rerouted through backup equipment while SaskPower inspected, cleaned and repaired the original piece of equipment.
The CCS facility was online for the entire month, just the third time in the last 13 months that has happened. The average for the previous 12 months was 63 per cent.
Unit 3 produced an average of about 110 megawatts in October, which was slightly better than the previous 12-month average of 108 megawatts.
SaskPower continues to test various levels of operation at the facility to optimize performance. In November, the Crown corporation will tune performance slightly downwards to get closer to the tonnage needed by its offtaker.
