Atikokan Generating Station
Encyclopedia
Atikokan Generating Station is a coal fired station
owned by Ontario Power Generation
(OPG), located 8 km (5 mi) north of Atikokan, 190 km (118 mi) west of Thunder Bay
, in Northwestern Ontario
. The plant employs 90 people. The Atikokan Generating Station began operation in 1985 and underwent an overhaul in the autumn of 2003.
It has one coal fuelled generating unit with low nitrogen oxide
(NOx) burners, providing a peak output of 230 MW
fuelled by low sulfur
lignite coal from Western Canada
. It will be the first generating station to be converted by OPG to be fuelled by bio mass. The plant is scheduled to burn wood pellets instead of coal by 2012. Annual production at the plant is approximately 900 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), enough energy to supply approximately 70,000 households for one year. The station occupies 3 km² (741 acre) north of Atikokan, Ontario. The plant's chimney
is 145 m (476 ft) tall and the steam temperature is 538 °C (1,000 °F).
This plant is connected to the provincial power grid via several 230,000 volt transmission lines.
*Calculated figures for CO2e are rounded to the nearest tonne.
Fossil fuel power plant
A fossil-fuel power station is a power station that burns fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas or petroleum to produce electricity. Central station fossil-fuel power plants are designed on a large scale for continuous operation...
owned by Ontario Power Generation
Ontario Power Generation
Ontario Power Generation is a public company wholly owned by the Government of Ontario. OPG is responsible for approximately 70% of the electricity generation in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Sources of electricity include nuclear, hydroelectric, solar, wind, and fossil fuel...
(OPG), located 8 km (5 mi) north of Atikokan, 190 km (118 mi) west of Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay
-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
, in Northwestern Ontario
Northwestern Ontario
Northwestern Ontario is the region within the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior, and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the Canadian province of Manitoba, which disputed Ontario's claim to the...
. The plant employs 90 people. The Atikokan Generating Station began operation in 1985 and underwent an overhaul in the autumn of 2003.
It has one coal fuelled generating unit with low nitrogen oxide
Nitrogen oxide
Nitrogen oxide can refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds:* Nitric oxide, also known as nitrogen monoxide, , nitrogen oxide* Nitrogen dioxide , nitrogen oxide...
(NOx) burners, providing a peak output of 230 MW
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
fuelled by low sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
lignite coal from Western Canada
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
. It will be the first generating station to be converted by OPG to be fuelled by bio mass. The plant is scheduled to burn wood pellets instead of coal by 2012. Annual production at the plant is approximately 900 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), enough energy to supply approximately 70,000 households for one year. The station occupies 3 km² (741 acre) north of Atikokan, Ontario. The plant's chimney
Chimney
A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...
is 145 m (476 ft) tall and the steam temperature is 538 °C (1,000 °F).
This plant is connected to the provincial power grid via several 230,000 volt transmission lines.
Emissions
| Greenhouse gas | Sum (tonne Tonne The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI... s) |
Sum (tonnes CO2e Carbon dioxide equivalent Carbon dioxide equivalent and Equivalent carbon dioxide are two related but distinct measures for describing how much global warming a given type and amount of greenhouse gas may cause, using the functionally equivalent amount or concentration of carbon dioxide as the reference.- Global warming... *) |
|---|---|---|
| CO2 Carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom... |
199,602.00 | 199,602 |
| CH4 Methane Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel... |
8.01 | 168 |
| N2O Nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or sweet air, is a chemical compound with the formula . It is an oxide of nitrogen. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic... |
2.01 | 623 |
| Total | - | 200,393 |
*Calculated figures for CO2e are rounded to the nearest tonne.