Through strategic planning and innovative action, we ensure measures are taken to protect the environment and use natural resources sustainably.
The facilities we operate in, products we manufacture and the services we provide meet or exceed all applicable laws and regulations, industry standards and societal expectations.
As part of our commitment to responsible development, the bright minds of our scientific and mechanical staff designed a solution that not only meets the power needs of our phased growth in the Town Area, but also uses technology that reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from our typical plant design.
An easy solution would have been to connect to the British Columbia power grid since the vast majority of the province’s power is created using hydroelectric generation but, given that it’s more than 100 kilometres away from our operations, that’s not possible at this time. The option that made the most sense economically and helped us achieve the lowest carbon footprint, was to build a co-generation plant, on site.
A co-generation power plant produces electricity using natural gas turbines, while simultaneously capturing and repurposing the waste heat from the turbine’s exhaust. The exhaust heat recovery modules redirect the residual heat to the heating needs of the facility without the need to install additional natural gas-fired boiler equipment. The net effect is that we burn less natural gas then we typically would to create the same amount of energy. We anticipate this new design, with a total of three turbines, will generate between 33 and 38 megawatts when it’s fully operational (enough power for 3,800 homes) and represents an emissions reduction of approximately 30 percent over our typical plant design.
We are continuing to explore other areas for emissions reductions including the piloting of three carbon capture utilization and sequestration and as technologies develop, we will always consider the current solution to the problem at hand.
We anticipate this new design will generate enough power for 3,800 homes and represents an emissions reduction of approximately 30 percent over our typical plant design.
Generating our own power with a focus on lowering emissions
Operating a natural gas processing plant requires a considerable amount of power – much more power than we’ve been able to harness from the sun using solar panels or fuel cell technology. As part of our commitment to responsible development, the bright minds of our scientific and mechanical staff designed a solution that not only meets the power needs of our phased growth in the Town Area, but also uses technology that reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from our typical plant design.
An easy solution would have been to connect to the British Columbia power grid since the vast majority of the province’s power is created using hydroelectric generation but, given that it’s more than 100 kilometres away from our operations, that’s not possible at this time. The option that made the most sense economically and helps us achieve the lowest carbon footprint, was to build a co-generation plant, on site. A co-generation power plant produces electricity using natural gas turbines, while simultaneously capturing and repurposing the waste heat from the turbine’s exhaust. The exhaust heat recovery modules redirect the residual heat to the heating needs of the facility without the need to install additional natural gas-fired boiler equipment. The net effect is that we burn less natural gas then we typically would to create the same amount of energy.
We anticipate this new design, with a total of three turbines, will generate between 33 and 38 megawatts when it’s fully operational (enough power for 3,800 homes) and represents an emissions reduction of approximately 30 percent over our typical plant design.