Ontario Power Generation and Babcock & Wilcox Canada Team up for $200 Million Environmental Project
Nanticoke, Ont., CANADA, November 26, 2001 Ontario Power Generation (OPG) announced today that Babcock & Wilcox Canada of Cambridge is the prime contractor for the engineering and construction of Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) equipment at OPG's Nanticoke and Lambton coal-fired generating stations. The SCR units will reduce smog-causing agents by 80 percent on the units on which they will be installed.
SCR is a proven, effective technology for reducing emissions from fossil plants; with more than 100 installed worldwide and over 130 installations planned in the United States. The four units OPG is installing will reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) by about 12,000 tonnes a year, or the equivalent of taking 600,000 cars off the road. The $200 million contract is part of OPG's investment in clean air technology, which will see well over $250 million spent on the SCR project, cleaner burners and other modifications at Nanticoke and Lambton.
At today's Nanticoke signing ceremony, OPG Chairman Bill Farlinger said "The SCRs and the other environmental technologies we are adding at Lambton and Nanticoke represent a tremendous commitment to emissions reductions. This clearly demonstrates that we are reducing our environmental impacts and contributing to clean air. Ontario Power Generation will continue to do whatever it takes to meet or better the province's tough new air quality regulations, while also providing a reliable and competitively-priced product."
"Investing in new technologies that reduce emissions is great news for the environment and Ontario's economy," Energy, Science and Technology Minister Jim Wilson said today. "I'm pleased that OPG is protecting the environment and helping us meet one of our key principles for a competitive electricity market."
"Babcock & Wilcox Canada and its employees are proud to have been selected by Ontario Power Generation to design, manufacture and install this equipment, the first of its kind in Canada," said Paul Koenderman, President of Babcock & Wilcox Canada. "The project will provide our organization with a considerable amount of project management and engineering work; will add to our shop backlog at our Cambridge, Ontario and Melville, Saskatchewan facilities and will involve a significant amount of construction activity. B&W Canada and OPG have a long and successful relationship, and we look forward to continuing that relationship as we complete this project."
The first of the four SCR units will be in service at Lambton's Unit 4, near Sarnia, by late 2002. Nanticoke Unit 8 and Lambton Unit 3 will be completed by May 2003, and Nanticoke's Unit 7 will be installed by November 2003.
SCR systems are large steel structures that are installed outside the station, between the boiler and the smokestack. The flue gas passes through the SCR, where a chemical reaction takes place that converts the nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen and water vapor.
An independent environmental screening report determined that the units will result in "an important improvement to air quality." OPG contributes just seven percent of the smog-causing agents affecting air in Ontario, but the company has undertaken an impressive program to reduce that even further.
OPG has invested in low NOx burners, turbine improvements and improved control systems that increase station efficiency. The company is also involved in industry research into new ways of reducing the impact of its coal stations. OPG will proceed with the restart of the Pickering A station, subject to appropriate regulatory approvals. This will add 2,000 MW of emission-free generation to the system. The company will also quadruple its renewable energy portfolio to 500 MW by 2005.
Ontario Power Generation is an Ontario-based company, whose principal business is the generation and sale of electricity to customers in Ontario and to interconnected markets. OPG's goal is to be a premier North American energy company while operating in a safe, open and environmentally responsible manner. OPG's focus is to produce reliable electricity from competitive generation assets, power trading, and commercial energy sales activities.
Babcock & Wilcox Canada, Ltd. serves the North American electric utility and industrial markets and the global nuclear utility market. Based in Cambridge, Ontario, it is a subsidiary of The Babcock & Wilcox Company in Barberton, Ohio, which is an operating unit of McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR).
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