Keephills 3

The Keephills 3 power plant is a 495-gross-megawatt (MW) (450 MW net) coal-fired generating facility located about 70 kilometres west of Edmonton, Alberta and five kilometres south of Lake Wabamun, adjacent to TransAlta’s existing Keephills power plant.

Keephills 3 began commercial operations in September 2011 as one of Canada’s largest and cleanest coal-fired facilities and one of the most advanced facilities of its kind in the world. CO₂ emissions per MW will be lower than those from a conventional coal plant because less fuel is used to produce the same amount of power.

This facility is an important step in ensuring Alberta's future power needs are met with a reliable, cost-effective and an environmentally responsible source of electricity.

TransAlta/Capital Power Partnership
TransAlta and Capital Power are equal partners in the ownership of Keephills 3 with TransAlta responsible for operations. TransAlta and Capital Power independently dispatch and market their share of the unit's electrical output.

Air Quality Control Systems
Keephills 3 is equipped with advanced air quality control systems designed to reduce emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), mercury (Hg) and particulate matter.

The facility has:

• A flue-gas desulphurization unit for removing (SO₂).
• Low nitrogen oxides (NO_x) staged burners to reduce NOx emissions.
• A mercury emission control system, using activated carbon injection technology.
• A high efficiency particulate collection system, using fabric filters (baghouse) which capture 99.9 per cent of particulate emissions.

Supercritical Boiler Technology
Keephills 3 uses supercritical boiler technology, which features higher boiler pressure and temperatures and a high-efficiency steam turbine. This technology, first introduced to Canada by TransAlta and Capital Power when Genesee 3 was built, results in lower CO₂ emissions per MW compared to a conventional coal plant.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration
Keephills 3 will integrate with Project Pioneer, one of the world’s first demonstration projects to test the full life cycle of carbon capture and storage. The project entails the construction of a large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility to test the viability of the technology at a near-commercial scale. Partners in Pioneer include TransAlta, Capital Power and Enbridge. It is scheduled to be operational in 2015.