Coleson Cove Generating Station
Encyclopedia
The Coleson Cove Generating Station is a 1050 MW Canadian
electrical generating station located at 4077 King William Road in the community of Seaview
on the extreme western boundary of the city of Saint John
, New Brunswick
.
A thermal generating station, Coleson Cove is situated on a cove
of the same name, along the shore of the Bay of Fundy
16 km (9.9 mi) southwest of the mouth of the Saint John River at the city's central core.
The generating station is owned and operated by New Brunswick Power Coleson Cove Corporation (Colesonco), a wholly owned subsidiary of New Brunswick Power Generation Corporation (Genco), which is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of provincial Crown corporation NB Power
.
Coleson Cove opened in 1976 and was designed to burn #6 fuel oil
, also known colloquially as "bunker C". Fuel is delivered via the 20 km (12.4 mi) underground Lorneville Pipeline, which runs from Irving Oil
's Canaport bulk oil tanker
unloading station off Red Head, 4 km southeast of the city's central core, crossing to the city's west side via the Reversing Falls Railway Bridge
. The #6 fuel oil is stored in two 1.5 million barrel tanks at Canaport and four 300,000 barrel tanks at Coleson Cove.
The plant features three boiler units powering three 350 MW generators for a total output of 1,050 MW, which is approximately 33% of the utility's generating capacity. To achieve this, Coleson Cove burns 5 million barrels of oil annually and discharges its exhaust through twin 183 m (600.4 ft) smoke stacks. In 1994, Coleson Cove was responsible for discharging 40,500 tonnes of sulphur dioxide (SO2), increasing to 61,000 tonnes of SO2 in 1999; the plant also discharged 17,100 tonnes of nitrogen oxides (NOx) that year.
, which was sole-sourced from Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.
(PDVSA) in a $2 billion 20-year supply agreement. The $2.2 billion refurbishment project involved reconfiguring the boilers, as well as on-land storage tanks, Lorneville Pipeline, and some equipment at Irving Oil's Canaport unloading facility. The project was envisioned to be complete in November 2004 with a cost of $818 million. Part of this refurbishment saw Coleson Cove fitted with low NOx burners and the addition of six flue gas desulphurization (FGD) scrubbers which were designed to also remove hydrochloric acid
.
in Manhattan
and the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick
in Fredericton during the last week of February, naming both PDVSA and its United States
subsidiary Bitumenes Orinoco S.A. (Bitor) as defendants and citing the companies' inability to negotiate and sign a contract to deliver orimulsion to Coleson Cove. On March 16, 2004 PDVSA announced that it was phasing out all orimulsion production; since NB Power's Dalhousie Generating Station
's fuel supply agreement ends in 2010, it is assumed that that plant will be forced to switch to an alternative.
The failure to secure a fuel supply agreement with PDVSA for the massive Coleson Cove Generating Station overshadowed the final term of Premier Bernard Lord
and is believed to have played a role in his government's subsequent electoral defeat since the publicly owned utility's write-down of the loss added substantially to the provincial long-term debt.
byproduct which was commercially resold for wallboard through a subsidiary of J.D. Irving Limited.
Despite the improvements reducing emissions, the Coleson Cove Generating Station remains the largest thermal generating station in Atlantic Canada
and has been cited by the New Brunswick Environmental Network and the Clean Energy Coalition of New Brunswick as the largest single point source of air pollution
and greenhouse gases in the region. Emissions from the station in the form of particulates have been, and remain, a frequent source of pollution complaints in the region.
. The high price of fuel oil in recent years, coupled with the plant's still-high emissions, has meant that it has sat idle for much of the last decade as it has been cheaper for NB Power to purchase imported electricity to replace the generating capacity. The decline in natural gas prices in recent years, increased cost of the mid-life refurbishment of the nearby Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station
, and the rising cost of replacement imported electricity has provided an economic case for converting Coleson Cove, however, the project must be approved by the Government of New Brunswick
and undergo environmental study. Additionally, a natural gas pipeline to supply the plant must be constructed from either the Saint John Lateral of the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline
or the Brunswick Pipeline
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
electrical generating station located at 4077 King William Road in the community of Seaview
Seaview, New Brunswick
Seaview is a small Canadian coastal community located in the western part of Saint John County, New Brunswick.It is located within the boundaries of the city of Saint John.-External links:*...
on the extreme western boundary of the city of Saint John
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
.
A thermal generating station, Coleson Cove is situated on a cove
Cove
A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often inside a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are often considered coves...
of the same name, along the shore of the Bay of Fundy
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
16 km (9.9 mi) southwest of the mouth of the Saint John River at the city's central core.
The generating station is owned and operated by New Brunswick Power Coleson Cove Corporation (Colesonco), a wholly owned subsidiary of New Brunswick Power Generation Corporation (Genco), which is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of provincial Crown corporation NB Power
NB Power
NB Power , formerly known as New Brunswick Power Corporation and New Brunswick Electric Power Commission is the primary and former monopoly electrical utility in the Canadian province of New Brunswick...
.
Coleson Cove opened in 1976 and was designed to burn #6 fuel oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
, also known colloquially as "bunker C". Fuel is delivered via the 20 km (12.4 mi) underground Lorneville Pipeline, which runs from Irving Oil
Irving Oil
Irving Oil is a gasoline, oil, and natural gas producing and exporting company. It is also one of the few energy companies in Canada to publicly support the Kyoto Accord. Irving Oil operates one large oil refinery...
's Canaport bulk oil tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
unloading station off Red Head, 4 km southeast of the city's central core, crossing to the city's west side via the Reversing Falls Railway Bridge
Reversing Falls Railway Bridge
The Reversing Falls Railway Bridge is the name given to two different steel truss bridges crossing the Saint John River at the same location in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada....
. The #6 fuel oil is stored in two 1.5 million barrel tanks at Canaport and four 300,000 barrel tanks at Coleson Cove.
The plant features three boiler units powering three 350 MW generators for a total output of 1,050 MW, which is approximately 33% of the utility's generating capacity. To achieve this, Coleson Cove burns 5 million barrels of oil annually and discharges its exhaust through twin 183 m (600.4 ft) smoke stacks. In 1994, Coleson Cove was responsible for discharging 40,500 tonnes of sulphur dioxide (SO2), increasing to 61,000 tonnes of SO2 in 1999; the plant also discharged 17,100 tonnes of nitrogen oxides (NOx) that year.
Refurbishment
In late 2001, NB Power announced its intention to refurbish Coleson Cove and convert its fuel source to orimulsionOrimulsion
Orimulsion is a registered trademark name for a bitumen-based fuel that was developed for industrial use by Intevep, the Research and Development Affiliate of Petroleos de Venezuela SA , following earlier collaboration on oil emulsions with British Petroleum.-Source of the bitumen:Like coal and...
, which was sole-sourced from Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.
Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.
Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. is the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil, as well as exploration and production of natural gas...
(PDVSA) in a $2 billion 20-year supply agreement. The $2.2 billion refurbishment project involved reconfiguring the boilers, as well as on-land storage tanks, Lorneville Pipeline, and some equipment at Irving Oil's Canaport unloading facility. The project was envisioned to be complete in November 2004 with a cost of $818 million. Part of this refurbishment saw Coleson Cove fitted with low NOx burners and the addition of six flue gas desulphurization (FGD) scrubbers which were designed to also remove hydrochloric acid
Hydrochloric acid
Hydrochloric acid is a solution of hydrogen chloride in water, that is a highly corrosive, strong mineral acid with many industrial uses. It is found naturally in gastric acid....
.
Orimulsion issue
Unfortunately political instability in Venezuela in 2003 is believed to have contributed to PDVSA balking at formally signing a contract to implement an orimulsion deal with NB Power for Coleson Cove. By winter 2004 it was apparent that the fuel supply agreement with PDVSA had fallen through and NB Power launched a $2.2 billion lawsuit that was filed simultaneously with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is a federal district court. Appeals from the Southern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick
Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick
The Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick is the superior court of the Canadian province of New Brunswick.- Structure :...
in Fredericton during the last week of February, naming both PDVSA and its United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
subsidiary Bitumenes Orinoco S.A. (Bitor) as defendants and citing the companies' inability to negotiate and sign a contract to deliver orimulsion to Coleson Cove. On March 16, 2004 PDVSA announced that it was phasing out all orimulsion production; since NB Power's Dalhousie Generating Station
Dalhousie Generating Station
The Dalhousie Generating Station is a 315 MW Canadian electrical generating station located in the community of Darlington in Restigouche County, New Brunswick....
's fuel supply agreement ends in 2010, it is assumed that that plant will be forced to switch to an alternative.
The failure to secure a fuel supply agreement with PDVSA for the massive Coleson Cove Generating Station overshadowed the final term of Premier Bernard Lord
Bernard Lord
Bernard Lord, ONB, QC, is a Canadian politician and lobbyist. Lord served as the 30th Premier of New Brunswick from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...
and is believed to have played a role in his government's subsequent electoral defeat since the publicly owned utility's write-down of the loss added substantially to the provincial long-term debt.
Pollution
Forced to continue its reliance upon heavy fuel oil, NB Power realized several environmental benefits and plant efficiencies resulting from the refurbishment as the generating station moved ahead 2 generations from its original polluting 1970s technology: SO2 emissions were reduced by 77%, NOx emissions were reduced by 70% and particulate release was reduced by 75%. In addition, the changes in the burners and addition of scrubbers saw the production of a gypsumGypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
byproduct which was commercially resold for wallboard through a subsidiary of J.D. Irving Limited.
Despite the improvements reducing emissions, the Coleson Cove Generating Station remains the largest thermal generating station in Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
and has been cited by the New Brunswick Environmental Network and the Clean Energy Coalition of New Brunswick as the largest single point source of air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
and greenhouse gases in the region. Emissions from the station in the form of particulates have been, and remain, a frequent source of pollution complaints in the region.
Possible natural gas conversion
In May 2011 NB Power announced that it was considering converting Coleson Cove to burn natural gasNatural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
. The high price of fuel oil in recent years, coupled with the plant's still-high emissions, has meant that it has sat idle for much of the last decade as it has been cheaper for NB Power to purchase imported electricity to replace the generating capacity. The decline in natural gas prices in recent years, increased cost of the mid-life refurbishment of the nearby Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station
Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station
Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station is a Canadian nuclear power station located 2 km northeast of Point Lepreau, New Brunswick. The facility was constructed between 1975-1983 by NB Power, the provincially-owned public utility....
, and the rising cost of replacement imported electricity has provided an economic case for converting Coleson Cove, however, the project must be approved by the Government of New Brunswick
Government of New Brunswick
The Government of New Brunswick refers to the provincial government of the province of New Brunswick. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
and undergo environmental study. Additionally, a natural gas pipeline to supply the plant must be constructed from either the Saint John Lateral of the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline
Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline
The Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline is a natural gas transmission pipeline that runs from the Sable Offshore Energy Project gas plant in Goldboro, Nova Scotia, Canada to Dracut, Massachusetts, United States....
or the Brunswick Pipeline
Brunswick Pipeline
The Brunswick Pipeline is a natural gas transmission pipeline in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.It runs from the Canaport liquified natural gas receiving and regasification terminal at Red Head to Woodland, Maine in the United States where it connects to the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline...
.