The Boundary Dam project, touted as BD3 or clean coal was another one of the news stories that made the list in previous years and certainly gained serious recognition moving forward in 2013.
The refurbishment of Unit No. 3, one of the older coal-fueled power production units at Boundary Dam Power Station, was being carried out in unison with the construction of the world's first major commercial-sized carbon dioxide capture island.
Just as the CO2 side of the project rolled to a conclusion in the fall of this year, after two years of solid construction under lead developer SNC Lavalin, it was announced by SaskPower president and CEO Robert Watson that the Unit 3 rebuild was going to cost about $115 million more than originally anticipated. This boosted the overall project's final cost to just over $1.3 billion.
The cost overruns were attributed to a delay in construction while a possible asbestos issue was tended to. The removal of old lead paint and the inability to pick up specific skilled tradespeople when required also led to increased costs. Another delaying issue was the fact that the new turbine for Unit 3 had to be put in place before pipe work leading into it from both the plant and the carbon dioxide capture island could be completed. Earlier engineering plans had figured the pipes could come into Unit 3 from both sides while the new turbine was being installed. The construction team learned later that this couldn't be done with the older style plant.
The project, however, remains on schedule with an expected full resumption of power production with carbon dioxide and other noxious gases being captured at a 90 per cent efficiency rate, in April.
In the meantime, construction also started on a $60 million clean coal testing facility at the nearby Shand Power Station, which also attracted world-wide attention as has the commercial-sized operation at Boundary Dam that will see between 110 and 120 megawatts of clean thermal electrical power being produced from Unit 3.
