Regina– Saskatoon-Nutana MLA Cathy Sproule, the NDP critic for environment and SaskPower, has been holding the provincial government’s feet to the fire on the poor performance of the Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Project.
On Nov. 13 she spoke to us about the opposition’s concerns about the project and the Saskatchewan Party government’s handling of it.
“Right now, with the information we’ve been given, our main concern is the plant isn’t operating, and we’ve been mislead about what the government’s been saying about the plant,” she said when asked about her primary concern.
She doesn’t know if the recent overhaul will solve the capture plant’s issues, saying she’s not privy to all the attempts SaskPower is making to get it operating.
“Certainly we’re concerned about what we do know, and that is the amount of money we’re spending extra, over and above the initial cost, and that’s very concerning,” Sproule said.
Asked if it’s reasonable to expect such a complex project, first-of-its-kind, to perform perfectly out of the gate, she said, “I think absolutely, that’s the case. I think what we’re talking about here is much beyond that. If you look an article by the editor of Power magazine (Gail Reitenbach, PhD), her quote is that this project, ‘has fundamental operationally crippling problems.’ I think what we’re looking at here goes beyond normal start-up glitches.”
Would it be fair to give the project a few years to settle out the bug? Sproule responded, “If they were just bugs, it would be fair to give it some time. This is obviously much more than working out bugs.”
SaskPower’s contract with Cenovus, which operates the Weyburn unit, destination of the compressed carbon dioxide product from the capture plant, has resulted in millions of dollars in penalties due to the lack of delivery of certain volumes of CO2 in a timely fashion, according to Minister of the Economy Bill Boyd during several question period rounds on the topic.
With regards to that, Sproule said, “That’s very concerning. The problems we see now with Cenovus could have been avoided. I think at the time of April 2014, when the contract was signed, I think there were changes made subsequent to that. It would have been very clear at that point in time SaskPower would not be able to deliver the 100,000 tonnes of captured carbon. So we’re concerned about the negotiations and why they went the way they went when SaskPower knew there was no way they could have met those requirements, right from the get-go.”
In defence, Premier Brad Wall has been questioning the NDP’s stance on coal, and its use in generating power in Saskatchewan. To this Sproule said, “Obviously, coal is a very important part of our power mix here in Saskatchewan. It has been for decades. I think what we see happening in the future we know the coal regulations are here, they’re not likely to get less stringent. Most people would suspect they’ll get more stringent as time goes on.
“So, if carbon capture is not going to be economically viable, I think SaskPower and the Sask. Party need to deal with that reality and start planning adequately for the future.
“Obviously other jurisdictions are dealing with this as well. There’s some very robust mixes of power generation that would include other types of baseload. We have natural gas, we have hydro, we have biomass. And, of course, renewables are playing a bigger role in green economies. So SaskPower is behind other jurisdictions and the Sask. Party is not moving forward as quickly as other jurisdictions on those types of considerations,” Sproule said.
Asked If carbon capture isn’t developed for other applications beyond power generation, such as refineries, upgraders, SAGD, how will our economy and planet survive, Sproule said, “Other parts of the economy are looking at all sorts of technologies, including carbon capture. Certainly the SaskPower project is not the only carbon capture project in the world, either. There are a number of other technologies being developed. So, yes, for industry, when we know those regulations are coming forward and there’s going to be tighter controls on emissions, all of that is going to be important considerations and important research so those industries remain viable and carbon emissions go down.”
Should Saskatchewan start building nuclear power plants, which have zero carbon emissions?
“No, we should not start building nuclear power plants in Saskatchewan. That was a clear mandate from the people of Saskatchewan when we did the review back in 2009. There is just no call for nuclear. It’s way too expensive, and there’s still the issues of dealing with the waste. There’s still zero emissions, per se, but the waste and the cost, and there will be a lot of emissions around the building of it. It’s just not something that should be looked at right now.”
Sproule said, “Most importantly, the Sask. Party has really put all their eggs in one basket, down in Boundary Dam 3. We just found out recently they have delayed considering carbon capture for Boundary Dam 4 and 5. I think most of the questions around whether or not this is the right technology need to be reflected to the Sask. Party government and whether or not they’re willing to make that commitment to carbon capture. I think right now, after what we’ve seen, it’s pretty clear the Sask. Party is not ready to make that commitment yet, and they really need to answer those questions.”
Making a decision now, a year in, wouldn’t seem early, if it had been working better than expected, she said. “I think by all accounts, by everything we understand is that there were higher expectations, even understanding there would be problems to work out.
“I think there is a considerable amount of disappointment in the technology right now that is beyond what would be normally expected. I think that’s something the Sask. Party government needs to deal with,” she said.
While she acknowledged Boundary Dam is capturing carbon dioxide, more than any other power plant in the country, Sproule pointed out, “We’re paying huge amounts of money to do that. Again, the taxpayers and rate payers; SaskPower users, are the ones that are paying for this. It’s got to be economically viable, as well, and we’re certainly not seeing that at this point in time.”
The NDP has factored in the additional royalties from additional CO2-usage in enhanced oil recovery in its considerations of this file.
Sproule suggests wind-generated power is a cheaper way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Nuclear is more expensive, from what she understands, but natural gas is an easy one to look at.
“It’s not free. Nobody’s suggesting creating sustainable power is free. I don’t think that’s fair at all. But $1.5 billion for one project that might not actually be used for Boundary Dam 4 and 5 seems to be a lot of money, to be focusing on one project,” she concluded.
