The Atikokan Generation Station in Ontario is now operating on biomass and will generate 150 GWh for about 15,000 households per year. (Source: Invest Ontario)
The Atikokan biomass conversion project included plant modifications, the construction of a fuel storage and handling system to repower the plant from coal to biomass fuel. Among other things two silos, each of which can store up to 5,000 metric tons of wood pellets as well as a new truck receiving and transfer infrastructure were built. Modifications were also made to the boiler.
OPG chose wood-pellet biomass as fuel because the energy content is very similar to the lignite coal that Atikokan Generation Station was designed to burn, so much of the existing equipment could be adapted for biomass. OPG wood-pellet suppliers were selected through a competitive process requiring the wood-fibre to be sourced from sustainably managed forests. Rentech Inc. and Resolute Forest Products Canada will each supply 45,000 metric tons of wood pellets to the facility annually.
Electricity produced at Atikokan facility using biomass will provide back-up for OPG’s hydroelectric generation, and for intermittent renewable power such as solar and wind as needed. Annual fuel consumption and electricity production will depend on the power purchase agreement from the Ontario Power Authority and on electricity demand. The station is able to produce approximately 200 MW at full capacity.
“The biomass conversion and solutions developed for the Atikokan GS are cutting edge and OPG is at the forefront of this innovative technology. The project is the first of its kind in Ontario and will bring economic benefits to northwestern Ontario for years to come,” said Tom Mitchell, President and CEO of OPG.
By January 2014 another OPG coal-fired plant, the Thunder Bay Generating Station, is expected to be converted to biomass. The Ontario-based Independent Electricity System Operator released a new 18-month outlook on the reliability of Ontario’s electricity system and estimates that the conversion of the Atikokan and Thunder Bay Generating Station will add approximately 350 MW of new power supply to the system.
In the run-up to the conversion OPG had commissioned the Pembina Institute to conduct a sustainability analysis to determine if biomass sourced from Ontario forests meets the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change definition of renewable; to better understand the greenhouse gas reduction benefits of biomass; and to estimate the socio-economic benefits of electricity production from biomass. The analysis uses detailed forest carbon and socio-economic modelling to examine a scenario using two million tonnes of wood pellets per year from Ontario’s Crown forests at four OPG coal plants. The Pembina Institute has developed an easy-to-read Biomass Sustainability Analysis Summary Report, a 14-page summary of the full Biomass Sustainability Analysis.