Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
7/3/2014
Unit 3 of SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Power Station has been brought online temporarily for testing as its Oct. 2 official grand opening nears. Once operational, the facility will be the world’s first post-combustion coal-fired carbon capture and storage project. While Unit 3 being brought online marks a huge milestone for the project, testing is ongoing. “It’s only been a week or so. Results are still coming in,” SaskPower President Robert Watson told GHG Monitor in a written response this week. Unit 3 will be brought online intermittently throughout the summer as testing continues. Moving forward work will continue in the processes of commissioning each individual piece of the plant to make sure that everything is working together, Watson said.
The project, a partnership between SaskPower, the Canadian Government and the Government of Saskatchewan which aims to transform the aging Unit 3 of the Boundary Dam Power Station into a first-of-its-kind 110MW producer of clean coal electricity, was originally billed at $1.24 billion. However, the project ran into some cost overruns and construction delays last year due to an asbestos scare and unanticipated engineering work. The asbestos scare alone halted nearly all construction work for almost a month costing SaskPower $30 million the Canada-based utility reported. New engineering specs cost an unanticipated $25 million to build in boiler reinforcement for Unit 3, and SaskPower also paid about $30 million to remove lead paint from the power unit. Other unforeseen engineering work cost the company another $35 million.
The company does not anticipate any further delays, Watson said. “We’re very optimistic. That being said, this is a first-of-a-kind and we are proceeding cautiously. Safety is our number one concern.” Taking into the account the scope of the project, progress thus far has been fairly smooth Watson said. “Our delays have been minor, considering the more than 4.5 million man-hours that have gone into the project,” he said. “It’s all part of rebuilding a 50-year-old power unit. We’re on track to launch this year as planned.”
