ESTEVAN — Low Carbon Eco2 Energy representatives out of London were among those at the Southeast College's Estevan campus Monday evening to talk to residents about the renewable energy park project.
The UK company is proposing two new straw residue and waste wood-fuelled biomass facilities in Estevan and Clavet, which is located near Saskatoon. The proposed projects will generate 45 megawatts (MW) of renewable electricity, as well as green heat. According to the company's data, each facility could be able to save 58,500 tonnes of CO2 on an annual basis, which results in over 98 per cent emissions avoidance when compared to the reported 2020 Saskatchewan energy mix.
The local plant is to be known as the Estevan Renewable Energy Park or the biomass facility, and the Low Carbon Eco2 Energy representatives were sharing information about the project, answering people's questions and collecting feedback for future reference as they move forward.
Also present were representatives of Hatch, a global multidisciplinary management, engineering and development consultancy firm out of Regina.
In the Energy City, Low Carbon Eco2 Energy is currently considering a location within city limits on a 25-acre site northeast of the intersection of Kensington Avenue and King Street. Estevan land development services manager Richard Neufeld said the city has approved the development and now Low Carbon Eco2 Energy can take further steps.
With Hatch's help, which Low Carbon Eco2 Energy contracted to do some work locally, they are currently going through permitting process. The company rep noted that they like the location and the city has been very supportive.
The two facilities will become the first ones in Canada for the Low Carbon Eco2 Energy. They set eyes on Saskatchewan as they believe the province is well placed for a large-scale biomass industry, with an abundance of agricultural residue and waste wood from existing industry, as well as ambitious energy transition plans. The latest also affected their choice of Estevan as one of their preferred locations.
The Canadian biomass facilities will be based on the design of a 38-MW straw-fired biomass power station developed by Eco2 in Sleaford, England, but will be adapted to the Canadian climate, supply chain and standards and upgraded with new technological advancement.
As current federal regulations require all conventional coal-fired power stations to be closed by 2030, the company says the project will help to ensure energy security for the province, contribute to the decarbonization of the electricity grid, and also bring significant investment and new jobs to the province.
The development timeline for the projects is largely dependent on federal funding progress, but once shovel ready, the facilities will likely take three to four years to build.
The projects are expected to create construction and long-term economic opportunities in the areas, including employment and training, local feedstock procurement, contracting and educational partnerships. The feedstock used provides an additional revenue stream to farmers and existing industries because it does not compete for land use or food production.
Each proposed project is expected to generate over 400 jobs – 250 during construction, and 150 ongoing roles at the facilities or within the supply chain. The numbers are based on U.K. facilities and may change to suit Canadian requirements as the development and construction process evolves, the company noted.
A biomass facility uses organic feedstock to produce electricity and heat. A biomass facility could be fuelled by a range of organic feedstock types and the proposed facility will be fuelled by straw residue and waste wood. They expect the facilities to process straw of varying types and grades, which will make up the majority of the feedstock, and waste wood from the forestry and commercial industry, diverting waste from beehive burners and/or landfill.
The fuel mix at each facility will depend on local availability. They will not use wood that has been felled for the sole purpose of use as biomass and they do not require wood pellets.
The straw they procure is expected to come from a 50-kilometre radius of the facilities. Where applicable, the waste wood feedstock basin will be wider to account for location of forestry mills.
The boiler at the facilities is designed to be flexible with feedstock input, so it can utilize many different types of straw and agricultural residue supporting crop rotation. The facility will be able to utilize wheat, barley and oats. They are also currently testing the viability of using canola and flax straw. Alternative fuels also being tested include oat hulls, corn stover and grasses.
The plant handling system requires Hesston square bales in a four-foot-by-three-foot or four-foot-by-four-foot configurations, with additional length and density requirements. On-site, there planned to be three to five days worth of fuel stored, with an average of three months of additional feedstock in an off-site strategic storage depot.
While combustion of biomass releases carbon dioxide (CO2), the organic material used as feedstock will have captured almost the same amount of CO2 through photosynthesis while growing as it releases when combusted, making biomass a carbon-neutral energy source. For carbon emission calculation and reporting purposes. This is widely known as biogenic carbon, meaning the CO2 does not add to the earth's overall atmospheric carbon level due to the cyclical process of carbon abatement and release.
This is different from fossil carbon or non-biogenic carbon. released when combusting oil, coal and gas, which increases the earth's overall atmospheric carbon level by releasing CO2 that would otherwise have been stored geologically long-term.
The flue gas produced from biomass combustion is cleaned to a very high standard before being released into the atmosphere. The facilities adhere to strict air quality standards. The main product released from the flue will be biogenic CO2 and steam from the moisture in the fuel.
The company says there are very small amounts of other emissions, including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen chloride and particulate matter, which are all at levels well below those dangerous to human health or wildlife and are monitored continuously to ensure that they meet the strict limits set by environmental authorities. There will be minimal impacts in terms of noise, odour and light pollution, they added.
Indirectly, carbon emissions are incurred through the transport of fuel to the site. The company noted that these are small when compared to alternative sources of baseload power generation, but they are the largest source of emissions associated with the facility. They say they are committed to reducing direct processing emissions and indirect transport emissions where possible; in the short term through effective procurement strategies and in the long term through renewable technologies such as biofuels and electric vehicles. Even with transport emissions, biomass remains a much more sustainable alternative than coal and gas.
They also plan on designing the facility with the ability to retrofit carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology once operational.
The turbine is a steam-powered generator, and it uses water on a daily basis. However, the company notes that this is a small quantity compared to most industrial users as it's around 50 tonnes or just over 30,000 gallons of water per day as compared to 30 million gallons of water a day used by an equivalent of output coal plant, according to Sandia National Laboratories.
The company aims at making its facilities as fully circular as possible, with a small amount of ash being the primary by-product of the facility. Some of it can be used as fertilizer in agriculture, with the remainder being used as aggregate in construction. The consulting company representative said there is an existing market for the by-product, and Neufeld pointed out that it also creates the potential for synergies and further industrial development in the area.
Low Carbon Eco2 Energy is a joint venture between two UK-headquartered, renewable energy developers – Low Carbon and Eco2. Low Carbon is an independent power producer with operations across Europe and North America, and Eco2 is a renewables developer and asset manager, founded in 2002.
The team has experience in developing biomass projects and associated supply chains, having previously developed many projects in the U.K., including the first straw-powered biomass plant.
The feedback and questions received during the open house in Estevan will help Low Carbon Eco2 Energy with project development and addressing people's concerns, whether that's through providing more information in certain areas, taking some suggestions into the design, or something else. It will also be documented and provided to the Ministry of Environment which will also do their consultations and engagements with the public once they get to a certain level with the project development.
For more information on the project visit their website at www.estevanrenewableenergypark.com. To provide feedback or ask questions email info@estevanrenewableenergypark.com.
