Clean coal technology roadmap seeks to establish role for fuel in future energy mix

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has released a Clean Coal Technology (CCT) Roadmap that lays out a vision of how Canada can utilize science and technology to exploit the country’s abundant coal deposits for energy use and develop a fleet of coal plants that generate minimal or zero emissions. It urges a major R&D collaboration effort between industry and government and substantially boosted levels of R&D to ensure that coal has a prominent place in Canada’s energy mix of the future.

“The time to invest in CCT is now, as a clear window of opportunity exists over the next 25 years,” states the Roadmap. “Between 2009 and 2014 approximately 5,200 MWe of coal-fired capacity will need replacing, with an additional 2,400 MWe needed in 2017 and 2018. It takes five years from initial planning to build a coal plant, and so the first big opportunities for CCT lie within the window of 2009 - 2014. The first demonstration plants could be built within that timeframe, but action is required now.”

The Roadmap generated a five-point strategy which includes a strong public relations component to confront coal’s current image as a dirty energy source. Indeed, the Roadmap focuses on technology to exploit Canada’s plentiful supply of so-called low-ranked coals such as the sub-bituminous and lignite varieties.

Industry and government have committed to implementing the strategy which calls for the creation of a National Clean Coal Information Centre, public outreach through a National Clean Coal Information Program, R&D and technology programs to demonstrate commercial viability, development of a national vision, business model and risk mitigation strategy, and the design and operation of demonstration plants.

Leading the charge for the CCT Roadmap is Rick Patrick, VP environment and regulatory affairs for SaskPower, the principal supplier of electricity in Saskatchewan. Patrick chairs both the CCT’s management steering committee and technical advisory committee, which includes representatives from mainly western-Canadian based utilities, coal producers and research organizations.

The Roadmap identifies six areas or gaps that are inhibiting the commercialization of CCTs. The public perception of coal as a dirty fuel and its lack of understanding of CCT tops the list, followed by:

* large and dispersed international body of knowledge;

* lack of commercially available or cost competitive CCTs;

* absence of vision and business models for CCT demonstrations;

* high risk of developing and commercializing CCTs without collaboration; and,

*absence of demonstration plants and lack of supporting R&D to develop CCTs.

The most likely vehicle for industry-government collaboration is the Energy Innovation Network (Energy INet), a recently formed organization initiated by the Alberta Energy Research Institute (R$, March 30/05). Energy INet has developed a suite of programs, two of which — clean coal and clean carbon innovation — will be utilized to coordinate specific R&D initiatives. Other key players are the Canadian Coal Association, the CANMET Energy Technology Centre — Ottawa (CETC-O), NRCan and the Canadian Clean Power Coalition.

It’s expected that NRCan’s Program for Energy Research and Development (PERD) and the Climate Change Technology and Innovation Initiative will focus on bridging the technology gaps “to help achieve the goal of fully competitive commercial facilities in operation by 2020”. CCT R&D capacity will be developed primarily by CETC-O, the Alberta Research Council, the Saskatchewan Research Council, Luscar (through its coal beneficiation program) the Univ of Regina (through its International Test Centre) and various universities and electrical utilities nationwide.

The Roadmap argues that R&D should be conducted to support identified technology pathways that will lead to low- or zero-emission coal burning plants. These pathways include upstream coal cleaning, combustion strategy, gasification and a plexes strategy.

Anticipated impacts of the CCT strategy include:

* a revitalized Cape Breton coal industry;

* retrofitted and new coal-fired plants in Ontario at a cost of $5.3 billion;

* a framework for replacing existing lignite-fired units in Saskatchewan and adding new capacity using that province’s low-cost coal;

* an opportunity to build the first high-tech, supercritical clean coal plants in Saskatchewan; and,

* a chance to build an integrated gasification combined cycle plant in Alberta with polygeneration capacity to provide valuable feedstock to the chemical industry.

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