Shepard Energy Centre is a new, natural gas-fired power plant being built near Shepard Industrial Park in south-east Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The project, estimated to cost C$1.3bn, is being hailed as one of the largest projects ever undertaken by the city of Calgary.
The facility will have a nominal plant rating of 800MW and will be the largest natural gas-fired electricity generation facility in Alberta when commissioned in 2015.
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It will generate enough electricity to meet the needs of more than half of Calgary’s existing power demands.
The facility will use an advanced emissions technology and will generate less than half the CO2 per megawatt than a conventional coal-fired plant. The plant will be owned and operated by Enmax Shepard, a subsidiary of Enmax Energy.
Issues of financing the project and finding a partner compnay
Enmax has not been able to find a partner who can help offset a part of the estimated project cost. The company continues to have discussions with potential partners. Enmax believes having a partner onboard the project will give it financial flexibility to take care of other projects that it has in hand.
The company intends to build the project on its own if no partner comes forward. It will slow down new projects in other areas to help finance the Shepard project.
Details of Alberta’s largest natural gas-fired power plant
The 24ha project site is situated about two kilometres east of 84th Street SE and south of the Glenmore Trail. This site was chosen because of its proximity to the existing 240kV transmission lines, and hence lowers costs of connecting to the provincial grid.
Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) had given its consent for the facility in November 2010. The city of Calgary had also cleared the project by April 2011. Construction on the project was launched in October 2011.
In addition to the power plant and associated installations, the project includes extension of the road adjacent to the plant site. This extension is required to enable unhindered access to the lay down area surrounding the site for equipment storage, parking and other related activities.
Enmax Energy’s Calgary plant features
Important features of the plant include natural gas compression, auxiliary boilers and a wet surface condenser and cooling tower. Heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) will be partially enclosed, while the steam turbine generator (STG) and gas turbine generators (GTGs) will be fully enclosed. The project also has provisions for future carbon dioxide capture.
Make-up of the Shepard Energy Centre
Shepard Energy Centre will be installed with two 240MW M501G1 natural gas-fired turbines, two Vogt triple pressure heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) and a 320MW reheat steam turbine.
This equipment will be supplied as part of Mitsubishi’s Power Island.
The gas turbines are being manufactured in Japan by Mitsubishi. Transportation of these machines will take about a quarter of a year to arrive in Calgary.
Water required for power generation will be sourced from the Bonnybrook waste water treatment plant. An onsite water treatment plant will be installed to clean, treat and filter the sourced water prior to use.
Grid network connection linking Alberta’s energy centre
The Shepard power plant will be connected to the provincial electricity grid through a new switching station to be installed by Enmax Power. New transmission line infrastructure will be developed to connect the adjacent 240kV transmission lines to the proposed switching station.
Turnkey process undertaken by the joint venture
Enmax’s Shepard project is being undertaken through an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) turnkey contract by a joint venture, between Kiewit Energy Canada and Black & Veatch Canada, subsidiaries of Kiewit and Black & Veatch respectively. The contract between Enmax and the joint venture was signed in April 2011.
Owner’s engineering services for the project were provided by Burns & McDonnell, an architecture and consulting firm in Kansas.
