Atikokan Generating Station is a

biomass power plant Energy crops are low-cost and low-maintenance crops grown solely for energy production by combustion (not for food). The crops are processed into solid, liquid or gaseous fuels, such as pellets, bioethanol or biogas. The fuels are burned to g ...

owned by

Ontario Power Generation Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and "government business enterprise" that is responsible for approximately half of the electricity generation in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is w ...

(OPG) located north of

Atikokan Atikokan (, Ojibwe for 'caribou bones') is a town in the Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population was 2,642 as of the 2021 census. The town is one of the main entry points into Quetico Provincial Park and promotes itse ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

( west of

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

). The plant employs 90 people. The Atikokan Generating Station began operation as a coal fired station in 1985 and underwent an overhaul in the autumn of 2003. Until 2012, it had one coal fueled generating unit with low

nitrogen oxide Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds: Charge-neutral *Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide *Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide * Nitrogen trioxide (), or n ...

(NOx) burners, providing a peak output of 230 MW fuelled by low-

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

lignite coal from the Ravenscrag Formation in Southern

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. In late 2012, the facility powered down and underwent renovations, due to the Ontario government's initiative to eliminate all coal-fired electricity generation. It is the first generating station to be converted by OPG to be fueled by biomass,Ontario coal-fired power plant to switch to biomass
,

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

, January 21, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2009. and is North America's largest purely biomass-fueled power plant. The conversion came at a cost of C$200 million, and the plant was re-opened on 10 September 2014.http://www.ediweekly.com/largest-biomass-power-plant-na-set-open-atikokan/$200M conversion coming for Atitkokan coal plant
,

, July 19, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 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 an area of . The plant's

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

is tall, and the steam temperature is . This plant is connected to the provincial power grid via several 230,000-volt transmission lines.

Emissions

*Calculated figures for CO₂e are rounded to the nearest tonne.

References

External links

Ontario Power Generation: Atikokan Generating Station
{{Fossil fuel power ON Coal-fired power stations in Ontario Ontario Power Generation Ontario electricity policy Buildings and structures in Rainy River District Former coal-fired power stations in Canada Biomass power stations in Ontario 1985 establishments in Ontario Energy infrastructure completed in 1985

Emissions

See also

References

External links