Genesee power station

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Genesee power station is an operating power station of at least 1862-megawatts (MW) in Genesee, Leduc, Alberta, Canada with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating. It is also known as Genesee Generating Station.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Genesee power station	Genesee, Leduc, Alberta, Canada	53.343254, -114.304763 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

• Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3: 53.343254, -114.304763
• Unit 3, Unit RP1, Unit RP2: 53.34461, -114.31362

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	CHP	Start year	Retired year
Unit 1	operating	coal - subbituminous	430	subcritical	–	1989	2024 (planned)
Unit 2	operating	coal - subbituminous	450	subcritical	–	1994	2024 (planned)
Unit 3	operating	coal - subbituminous	466	supercritical	–	2005	2023 (planned)
Unit 3	operating	gas	516	gas turbine	not found	2023	–
Unit RP1	construction	gas	560	combined cycle	not found	2024	–
Unit RP2	construction	gas	560	combined cycle	not found	2024	–

CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner	Parent	Operator
Unit 1	Capital Power Corp [100.0%]	–	–
Unit 2	Capital Power Corp [100.0%]	–	–
Unit 3	Capital Power Corp [100.0%]	–	–
Unit 3	Capital Power Generation Services Inc. [50%]; Enmax Corporation [50%]	Capital Power Corporation [100.0%]; The City of Calgary [100.0%]	Capital Power Corporation
Unit RP1	Capital Power Generation Services Inc. [50%]; Enmax Corporation [50%]	Capital Power Corporation [100.0%]; The City of Calgary [100.0%]	Capital Power Corporation
Unit RP2	Capital Power Generation Services Inc. [50%]; Enmax Corporation [50%]	Capital Power Corporation [100.0%]; The City of Calgary [100.0%]	Capital Power Corporation

Background

Units 1 and 2 of the station are owned and operated by Capital Power Corporation. Fuel is provided by the nearby coal mine, a joint venture of EPCOR and Westmoreland Prairie Resources. The Genesee cooling pond is an artificial pond covering 735 hectares (1,820 acres). The pond is topped up with water from the North Saskatchewan River.

Unit 3, also known as Genesee 3, was jointly owned by TransAlta (50%) and Capital Power Corporation (50%). Genesee 3 was the first power plant in Canada to use supercritical boiler technology. Capital Power operates the merchant plant, and both parties independently dispatch and market their share of the electrical output through the Alberta Power Pool.

In August 2019 it was reported that Transalta Corporation sold its 50% share in Genesee 3 unit to Capitol Power Corporation in exchange for their 50% share in the Keephills 3 unit.

In July 2021 a service issue forced Unit 2 out of service. It remained out of service as of November 2021.

In October 2022, the Alberta Electric System Operator approved an additional 20 MW for Unit 2, bringing its capacity to 450 MW. The additional capacity was enabled by equipment replacements following the 2021 outage.

Conversion to gas

In June 2019 Capital Power announced plans to accelerate the conversion of the plant to run dually on gas in addition to coal. Unit 1 would be 100% dual-fuelled by 2021, Unit 2 by mid-2020, and Unit 3 by a date to be determined. In 2020, Capital Power began seeking regulatory approval for a repowering of Genesee Units 1 and 2. These units would be fully converted to gas power, and the conversion would bring the gross capacity for each unit from 430 MW to 732 MW. Construction is expected to begin in August 2021, with an anticipated in-service date in late 2023 for the repowered Genesee Unit 1 and 2024 for Genesee Unit 2.

In December 2019 Capitol Power stated that it would increase natural gas capability at Genesee 3 to 100% by 2021. That timeline appears to have been pushed back; as of March 2021, Capital Power was targeting 2023 for the completion of the transition to 100% gas power at Genesee 3.

The M501JAC gas turbines are hydrogen capable but as of 2022 there are no plans to utilize hydrogen in the plant.

According to Capital Power's 2022 Integrated Annual Report, the repowering of Units 1 and 2 had continued to advance and the expected in-service date for both units was 2024. Unit 3 had completed necessary modifications to operate on gas and would use gas as its sole fuel after the closure of the Genesee coal mine in late 2023.

In June 2023, Capital Power provided an updated schedule for their repowering project: combined cycle commissioning of Unit 1 was expected to begin in April 2024 and Unit 2 was expected in June 2024. As a result, Alberta was expected to phase out coal six years earlier than previously planned.

Carbon Capture and Storage project

In June 2022, Capital Power partnered with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group and Kiewit Energy Group on engineering and design for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at the Genesee power station. The project would reportedly avoid 95% of the carbon dioxide emissions from the coal-to-gas converted plant. They claimed that the proposed, commercial CCS could capture 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Capital Power's 2022 Integrated Annual Report stated that the CCS project would receive a final investment decision in late 2023 and start commercial operations as early as 2027.

Retirement

Under provincial and federal regulations introduced in November 2018, all coal-fired plants in Alberta are to be retired by December 31, 2029.

In their 2022 Integrated Annual Report, Capital Power stated that they were "on track to be off-coal in 2023."

In a June 2023 press release, Capital Power stated that they were "evaluating the impact of commissioning delays" for the gas conversion project on the company's target of being off coal in 2023. In their subsequent Q2 results statement, the company said that "[a]s a result of the updated schedule to the Genesee Repowering Project, we expect to continue blending natural gas with coal to align with the commissioning of the repowered units in 2024..."

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datases, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.