Building community connections November 2011 Kilowatt Connection. A Special Edition dedicated to Keephills 3 – a power generating facility jointly owned by TransAlta and Capital Power

Keephills 3 Canada’s most advanced coal-fired facility at 450 megawatts produces enough electricity to power approximately 505,000 homes annually

September 1, 2011 marked a major achievement for TransAlta and Capital Power as Keephills 3 (K3) completed the construction phase of work and started commercial operation as the newest asset in TransAlta’s fleet.

“Taking responsibility for operating a state-of-the-art emit approximately 24 per cent less carbon dioxide (CO2) generated by the Wabamun units fully retired by generating facility, which provides Albertans with a in producing the same amount of power previously TransAlta in 2010. source of reliable, economical and environmentally responsible electricity represents a significant milestone for TransAlta,” says Steve Snyder, TransAlta President & CEO. What does working at “Congratulations and thanks to the team at Capital Power for their work on this project,” adds Snyder. Keephills 3 mean to the Although the construction site was one of the largest and busiest in Alberta, with nearly 1,900 people working on people who work there? the project at the peak of construction in March 2010, In the words of Dan Billett, operations shift supervisor, “It’s a privilege to the project’s safety record was one of the best in the work at Keephills 3. It means so much to me to come from what was our industry. oldest coal-fired facility, Wabamun to the newest and most advanced.” Dan Billett “Safety has been a top priority for our contractors and From the K3 administration supervisor, Linda Cull’s perspective, “I began crews throughout construction of the project,” said my work on the K3 project in July 2007 and for me it’s an honour to be Capital Power President & CEO Brian Vaasjo. “We are working here to support operations. Throughout the project there were pleased to finish construction with one of the best safety many challenges and we pulled resources together to resolve any issues. records in the industry, with less than one lost time Now that Keephills 3 is operating, it’s rewarding.” incident per 1.7 million hours worked.” In the words of Rod Poirier, maintenance lead hand, “I was the first person Keephills 3 joins the TransAlta/Capital Power jointly in Maintenance hired to work at K3 and working here during owned Genesee 3 facility as one of Canada’s cleanest commissioning was a good experience and a great way to learn the coal-fired facilities. Keephills 3 is equipped with an equipment. Overall, it was a big commitment but I was prepared for it and advanced air quality control system, which achieves ready to put in the long hours,” adds Rod. superior environmental performance and uses supercritical boiler technology, which features higher boiler temperatures and pressures, and a high-efficiency Read more about the people who work at Keephills 3 on page 3. Rod Poirier steam turbine. Because less fuel is used, the facility will

A pictorial storyline follows at the bottom of each page showing images of construction www.transalta.com at Keephills 3 from 2007 to 2010. Building community connections Page 2

Message from The K3 nerve centre: Understanding the Dawn Farrell, Chief Control Room Operating Officer In the modern and technologically advanced Control monitoring “nerve” centre with very little interaction by Room at Keephills 3 all plant systems are completely the operator. The operator is there to ensure the unit runs The commissioning automated. “Everything runs in automatic – the unit to its designed capability by making slight changes as of a new plant is simply cannot run in manual,” says Dan Billett, operations required and at all times, operating the unit safely and always exciting. It shift supervisor. efficiently. represents the For Billett, the shift to an automated control room “Now, after learning what needs to happen under culmination of years environment at K3 meant a steep learning curve after different scenarios and conditions, all operators are here of hard work by coming from TransAlta’s Wabamun plant where many of to ensure the proper sequences, parameters and hundreds of people, the controls had to operate in manual due to the age and limitations are followed,” adds Billett. Any adjustments or each of whom different unit operating characteristics. Moving to K3 in corrections to these sequences can be tested on the K3 played an July 2009, Billett spent hundreds of hours learning the simulator which also serves as a critical training tool for instrumental role in new technically advanced systems. Billett initially started the operations team. the creation of the his training on the new controls job shadowing at plant. Genesee 3 and then spent time on the simulator there. Keephills 3 is no exception. We began the engineering With the state-of-the-art control technology, if a unit and permitting work for this plant in 2006. Five years, trips, most valves are controlled from the Control Room 1900 people, and 8.2 million work hours later, Keephills 3 by a computer using an ABB control system. “Turbine is one of the most advanced coal generation facilities in start-up is done by another computer control system the world. With supercritical boiler technology this called “HIACS”. Any run-ups or shut downs of the turbine state-of-the-art coal plant will use less coal per megawatt are virtually done by this computer,” explains Billett. hour as we meet the essential power needs of Albertans. “There are established operating parameters and We are also leading the way with cleaner technologies for sequences that must be followed on these computers.” K3 Control Room coal power generation. This plant is equipped with the Today’s modern control room works as mostly a latest in environmental control equipment reducing our impact to the environment. Keephills 3 will reduce our emissions in carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxides and particulate matter. What is supercritical technology? And, we can’t forget the positive impact it has on Alberta. As we face a growing economy, Keephills 3 is a solid Keephills 3 uses supercritical boiler technology, which there is no difference between water as a liquid and as a source of reliable, base-load power. With a net generation features higher boiler temperatures and pressures. gas,” says Lloyd Bures, Keephills 3 operations manager. Starting with a brief lesson from elementary school capacity of 450 megawatts, this plant has the potential to The supercritical steam drives a high efficiency steam science helps to explain what supercritical technology is. power more than 505,000 homes annually for decades turbine. A supercritical unit operates with steam turbine to come. Matter can occur in three distinct states – gas, liquid or inlet conditions as high as 24,000 kilopascals (kpa) and This only scratches the surface of all the amazing facts solid. The state a particular substance occurs in and the 571 degrees Celcius (3,500 psi/1,060 F). In contrast, behind the building of this new plant. Please take the time point at which it changes from one state to another is most North American power plants are of the subcritical to read this special bulletin cover to cover and learn more dependent on temperature and pressure. A supercritical type, producing steam at approximately 16,600 kpa and about the achievements many diverse teams achieved steam generator operates at such a high pressure, boiling 538 degrees Celcius (2,400 psi/1,000 F) to drive a together from TransAlta, Capital Power and many others ceases to occur. The steam generator has no interface steam turbine-generator set. point between water and steam. There is no generation who helped to build this world-class plant. As a result, K3 is more efficient using less coal per of steam bubbles within the water, because the pressure megawatt-hour, leading to lower emissions and lower And, as we begin our first year of operations, I would is above the critical pressure at which steam bubbles can fuel consumption per megawatt-hour. Because less fuel personally like to thank each and every project team form. member, site worker and community member who is used, the facility emits approximately 24 per cent less played a role in the completion of Keephills 3. K3’s steam generator operates at temperatures and carbon dioxide (CO2) in producing the same amount of pressures above the temperature and pressure in which power previously generated by the Wabamun units fully the liquid and gas phases of water co-exist. “In this state retired by TransAlta in 2010.

KEEPHILLS 3 COAL FIRED POWER PLANT Turbine Generator The Stack In the turbine, the steam generated by the boiler is converted into mechanical power The combustion products from the boiler are termed to drive the generator. "flue gas". This gas is hot and is discharged from the top of the stack. The height of the stack ensures that Coal Supercritical The generator converts the mechanical the flue gas safely disperses the combustion products Bunker Boiler power into electrical power. The electrical with minimal impact on the environment. power is converted to a higher voltage by the generator transformer. The high voltage electrical power is put on the transmission line and transmitted Transmission Fabric Filter & Flue throughout Alberta via the electrical grid. Line Tower Gas Desulphurization Turbine The FGD removes sulphur dioxide and the fabric filter Generator removes ash from the flue gas.

25 25 QUALITR50 OL50 75 75 OIL100 100OIL LEVEL LEVEL Generator

25 25 50 50 QUALITROL 75 75

OIL100 100OIL LEVEL LEVEL Transformer

25 25 25 25 QUALITR50 OL50 QUALITR50 OL50 75 75 75 75 OIL100 100OIL OIL100 100OIL LEVEL LEVEL LEVEL LEVEL

Induced Draft Fan Pulverizer

Power House Building Cooling Water Coal The power house building houses the boiler, turbine-generator and other auxiliary The cooling water circulates from Conveyors equipment. This equipment must be protected from the weather and from freezing the cooling towers to a heat Coal Supply in the winter. exchanger beneath the turbine The coal is conveyed to the The coal bunker stores a supply of coal for the boiler so that the boiler can continue where it cools the condensate or top of the coal bunker inside operating if problems develop with the coal handling system. steam and water from the boiler the power plant building. which is then is re-circulated back The pulverizer grinds the coal into a fine powder (coal dust). The coal dust is delivered to the boiler. to the boiler burners via a high velocity air stream generated by the primary air fan, where it mixes and burns with additional air from the forced draft fan. Inside the boiler, the coal is burned and the resulting heat is used to boil water and generate steam.

To change your address, to receive the Kilowatt Connection electronically or if you have a question or comment, please contact us at: FSC [email protected] or 1-877-636-7822. Mass excavation, site preparation Turbine hall site preparation logoCooling water pipe delivery Mass excavation site Feb. 2007 Feb. 2007 March 2007 March 26, 2007 Page 3 Building community connections

Meet the people who are part of the current Keephills 3 team and others who played a role in the K3 Project We asked what it means to be working at Keephills 3.

Craig Beattie, plant manager Lloyd Bures, operations manager Brian Henkel, maintenance manager It’s very rewarding to be managing Canada’s newest and It’s been a privilege to be part of the K3 project – a career It was an incredible opportunity and great learning most advanced coal-fired facility. I have tremendous highlight. To have been able to participate from the experience for me. What stands out in my mind is pride in building a team and congratulate all team design review stage through construction, commissioning working with people with such determination to get the members for their contributions to reach full operations. and commercial operation, provides an entire perspective job done right. We established our maintenance Everyone did the work and did it very well. We have a of what it takes to build a power plant. strategies for K3 building from the ground up. We diverse group of people who were very driven toward the developed preventative maintenance plans for every Working with a diverse and multi-skilled group of people end result. The team was exceptional in their piece of equipment and fostered strong relationships with has been a rewarding experience. K3 is the result of the determination to overcome issues and challenges by the manufacturers including, Hitachi and Babcock & collective efforts of many. finding solutions or alternatives. Wilcox. The teamwork that made commissioning a success will I have a lot of pride in the facility and as plant manager, I Commissioning Keephills 3 was the greatest challenge to help ensure successful commercial operation. accept the responsibility to lead safe and reliable date in my career, but also the most rewarding. operations and to preserve the pride many of us feel in That is the foundation of K3 and what I strive for as the our newest asset. operations manager.

From left: Dan MacDonald, power plant operator and From left: Brian Henkel, Craig Beattie and Lloyd Bures Derek Malone, K3 operations simulator trainer

Colleen Plooy Anita Stocker

Administration team from left: Brenda Hurley, Amy Allen, Brenda Trueman and Linda Cull Jim Vollans Christine Glober

Derek Malone, K3 operations simulator Anita Stocker, lab supervisor and Jim Vollans, projects supervisor trainer safety advisor Throughout the project it’s been amazing to have seen this I started working on the K3 project in 2007 at the Worley It’s been a great opportunity to work on state-of-the- whole facility grow from the ground up. I’ve walked down Parsons offices and was the TransAlta lead for the art equipment taking into consideration both safety and the trenches, saw concrete floors poured in the winter, simulator project. It’s been a great learning experience to chemistry aspects. And especially to be part of building a six-story high coal bunkers dropped into position and also be involved with a state-of-the-art plant and to learn and world-class chemistry program right from scratch. witnessed the assembly of the massive dragline. This understand new technologies. It’s increased my skills as project has been about team work and everyone worked an operator and also as a trainer. Colleen Plooy, scheduler very hard and did not give up – we always kept at it. It’s great that I first gained my operating background on In my role, I’m committed to doing everything to ensure our older units. This gave me an excellent foundation for we succeed. Following our Work Management philosophy Christine Glober, labourer many of the different simulation sequences which we test it’s important to be proactive and also to get all of the It’s great to be working at a brand new plant and it’s on a daily basis. work flowing smoothly. interesting to be here as this is a joint venture plant using new technology. In a way it’s being part of our history.

First pile driven First installation of cooling water pipe Cooling water pipe installation Boiler house piles March 30, 2007 April 12, 2007 April 2007 June 2007

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The Engineering story Designing and engineering Canada’s most advanced In comparison to conventional boiler technology, the between team members was outstanding and coal-fired facility was overall a massive undertaking yet a equipment and materials required to create the unit’s contributed to efficient decision making throughout the rewarding learning experience for the entire engineering supercritical boiler technology are typically larger, process,” observed Hodel. team. uncommon and sometimes rare. Extensive “Strong, collaborative relationships between our “The sheer size of the facility, coupled with the complex documentation, review and approvals are necessary but construction and engineering teams were critical to our specifications of the new technology created a large are more complex. At peak, the engineering team was success. As with all projects, we knew there would be volume of work which required thorough analysis and comprised of more than 70 engineers including members challenges along the way. The importance of having all design from engineers in many disciplines,” explains from WorleyParsons, the project’s engineering consulting parties working together to get problems resolved quickly Jamie Hodel, project engineer, Keephills 3. firm. “The teamwork and communication displayed cannot be understated,” adds Hodel.

Turbine/generator

Interview with Dave Conlin, K3 Project Interview with Ron Director: Dave led the Keephills 3 project from Korzan, health and February 2007 to September 1, 2011 safety advisor, K3 with the varying Congratulations to you and the entire project team on Safety is a core value at TransAlta and our goal is achieving first-class safety performance during the geotechnical everybody goes home safe, every day. Ron Korzan was conditions across the Keephills 3 construction project. Why do you think the part of the team that worked to integrate K3’s safety site which forced us K3 project safety record was so excellent? program into TransAlta’s overall health and safety into doing more winter Our construction safety performance was due to the management system. construction than we leadership provided by the Capital Power and planned for. Then due WorleyParsons construction management team and our Safety performance throughout commissioning was to the economic contractors. Later, through the commissioning period, the exceptional – what do you think led to this success? conditions prevalent Capital Power commissioning and TransAlta operating at the time we For the most part, all TransAlta employees that came teams were diligent in implementing TransAlta’s and experienced a on board had experience with TransAlta health and Capital Power’s safety programs. shortage of trades to safety standards however Keephills 3 was a new This was truly a team effort with all players aligned to erect the building steel experience and environment with new equipment. ensure we developed and maintained the safest working and we had to bring in a work force from Quebec to erect Time was dedicated to learn the new equipment and environment possible for everyone working at the site. the turbine building. The labour shortage in other trades systems prior to any of these systems going live. The last three million man hours on the project were continued through the whole of the construction period Operations leaders were very diligent in ensuring worked without a lost-time incident which goes to show despite the economic turndown that occurred. We found procedures were carefully planned before energizing that even on a large construction site, where workers ourselves in competition with Fort McMurray in any of the equipment or systems. Overall, the whole come from all over Canada and from different attracting out-of-province trades workers to Keephills 3. team pulled together and worked to define and experiences and backgrounds, a culture of working safely manage the hazards through the end of construction can be built up and excellent safety performance can be Through the course of the project we experienced a and commissioning activities. achieved. number of threats to our supply chain. These included a major earthquake in China, hurricane Gustav, a trucker Explain what had to be done in order to establish a strike in Korea, to name a few. In addition, we had a major After leading the building of Genesee 3, can you share health and safety program at K3? piece of equipment damaged during transportation and it with us what was different in regards to the Keephills 3 had to be returned to the factory in Korea for repair. Early The Alberta Thermal EHS Management System and project? in 2011, we were all horrified at the news coming out of its health and safety standards and procedures were Genesee 3 was built primarily through an engineering Japan due to the Tsunami that disrupted our major the basis of the health and safety program at K3. A and procurement contract where construction supplier (Hitachi) for a number of weeks and directly large number of the elements were applicable and a management was done under contract by a third party affected some of their staff working on our site who lost lot of hard work led by management was completed to who took responsibility for cost, quality and schedule. their homes. All these issues were overcome without gradually incorporate these TransAlta procedures. It Overall responsibility for safety on that site remained major impact to the project but they show how a globally was also important to identify and address new with Capital Power. For Keephills 3, Capital Power and supplied project like Keephills 3 can be vulnerable to hazards presented by new processes and create new TransAlta undertook the responsibility for all aspects of world events. standards and procedures to address these hazards. construction, requiring the building of large construction and commissioning teams to manage the work. Keephills Anything else you want to add? 3 was also physically a larger project with the addition of Together, Capital Power and TransAlta have built a a coal-handling facility, cooling tower, water treatment valuable asset for both companies, that is meeting or plant and other services. exceeding the performance specifications agreed upon five years ago. I would like to congratulate all who worked What were some of the key challenges that the K3 on the Keephills 3 Project, including our own staff and our project team dealt with? And how did you resolve suppliers and contractors who all worked very hard, them? sometimes at personal expense, to make this project a Most of the key challenges were experienced during the success. Thank you to everyone. course of construction. Early on we had some surprises

Boiler house floor Stack foundation K3 construction site Coal bunkers Aug. 2007 Oct. 2007 Feb. 2008 May 2008

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The Future of coal-fired generation Project Pioneer: An interview with Don Wharton, VP Sustainable Development Charting the course What is coal’s role as a future power source? What commitments for carbon capture has TransAlta made Coal is the dominant fuel for power generation worldwide to advance clean and continues to increase in use. By 2030, the and storage coal technologies? International Energy Agency estimates 43 per cent of the Fresh on the heels of commissioning Keephills 3 (K3), world’s electricity will be generated from coal. Coal has TransAlta has made TransAlta is taking a leading role in Project Pioneer – one historically been an important component of Canada’s a major of Canada’s first fully-integrated carbon capture and energy mix and is a plentiful, secure and low-cost fuel for commitment storage (CCS) projects from the power sector. TransAlta’s Alberta thermal fleet. However, there are through its leading environmental concerns associated with its use. role in Project Project background TransAlta’s view is that these concerns can be resolved Pioneer, one of the Project Pioneer represents a major step toward advancing through technologies such as carbon capture and world’s largest, the capture of greenhouse gas emissions. Pioneer holds storage, advanced air pollution controls and improved integrated carbon the promise to remove 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide water management. capture and storage (CO ) annually from K3’s emissions, the equivalent of (CCS) projects to be located at Keephills 3. Project 2 removing 160,000 cars from our roads every year. What is TransAlta’s philosophy regarding clean coal? Pioneer has the potential to capture one million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. This large-scale demonstration The Project will provide the opportunity to fully explore For over a decade, TransAlta has been proactively project is essential to furthering the development of all aspects of the CCS process – from capture through to committed to finding a solution that will allow us to full-scale CCS technologies. sequestration and enhanced oil recovery. CO can also be continue using coal as a source of fuel. We believe it is 2 used to increase the amount of recoverable oil from oil possible to solve the emissions challenge by finding The benefits of secure, reliable and low-cost power are reserves. This process is referred to as enhanced oil technology that is socially acceptable in terms of lower fundamental to our economic well-being and that’s why recovery. emissions, and providing consumers with competitively TransAlta remains committed to developing CCS and priced electricity. other combustion technology solutions for coal. Project scope The proposed project entails the construction of a large-scale CCS facility at K3 which will be designed to

safely capture, transport and store carbon dioxide (CO2). Demonstrating our environmental A pipeline system is also proposed. One pipeline would

transport the CO2 from the Keephills 3 facility to the commitment sequestration site and another pipeline would transport the CO from K3 to the Pembina oilfield southwest of K3 At all of TransAlta’s facilities our commitment to The Environmental Services Team actively monitors and 2 protecting the environment is a core value and a reports environmental impacts to air, land and water at for use in enhanced oil recovery. corporate responsibility, as well as a personal K3. Air-emissions control is a particular focus at K3 and responsibility of each employee and contractor working the new technologies required by the plant’s operating Partners on TransAlta’s behalf. approvals have significantly lower air emission levels than Project Pioneer brings together public and private conventional coal technology. partners who are the leading experts in each key aspect At K3, TransAlta’s Environmental Services Team required for the success of this unique initiative. Capital established maintenance and operations procedures for As we do at all of our Alberta Coal plants we continue to Power is the generation partner in the Project and the plant’s environmental equipment and processes, operate our assets in an environmentally sound manner, co-owner of K3. Enbridge is the transportation and including the advanced air quality control system, working to meet or exceed environmental legislation storage lead in the project. The Governments of Canada mercury controls and the stack emission analyzers. requirements. and Alberta are contributing public funding for the project During commissioning the team was an integral part of along with Global CCS Institute which aims to advance the boiler performance testing and the stack instrument CCS knowledge around the world. and emission certification testing. “Prior to start-up of the facility it was important to ensure all environmental “Prior to start-up of the facility it was important to Current activities ensure all environmental risks were addressed and that risks were addressed and that all Mark MacKay, VP all monitoring equipment was ready for continuous monitoring equipment was ready for engineering and operation,” comments Bryan Wilson, environmental continuous operation.” construction, says that technologist. an important recent development in the project is a switch to a new carbon removal technology called ‘amine technology.’ “One of the objectives of Project Pioneer is to demonstrate this technology at a near commercial scale yet still fit within the cost structure of a government funded project. Our goal is to demonstrate these technologies have the potential to be economically viable when deployed across the power industry.” continues MacKay. An evaluation program is also underway to ensure a

well-selected site for CO2 storage. This includes drilling an evaluation well to verify the geology of the area and to

confirm its potential to safely store CO2.

“...Our goal is to demonstrate these technologies have the potential to be economically viable when deployed across the power industry.”

From left: Bryan Wilson and Derry Burge with the mercury continuous emissions monitoring system analyzer www.projectpioneer.ca

Turbine pedestal First coal bunker placed into position Stack construction Boiler house May 2008 June 2008 June 26, 2008 June 28, 2008

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Explaining the air quality control system Keephills 3 is equipped with an advanced air quality control system (AQCS) for superior environmental “For removal of sulphur dioxide, performance and is made up of several components. mercury, nitrogen oxides and particulate These components work together to remove sulphur matter no other coal plant in Canada has dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), mercury and particulates from the flue gas prior to leaving the stack. better environmental performance than Keephills 3.” Sulphur dioxide and particulate removal The AQCS handles the exhaust from coal combustion after the flue gas exits the boiler. First, it passes through a Nitrogen oxides (NOx) flue gas desulphurization (FGD) unit. In the FGD the gas Low nitrogen oxide burners are installed in the boiler to is mixed with a wet-lime slurry. As this mixture dries, SO2 reduce NOx levels during the coal-combustion process. is absorbed and entrained in the ash stream. “We’re At present about 68 per cent of the NOx is removed really impressed with how well the flue gas through this process. desulphurization unit is performing, as we’re seeing more than 76 per cent of the SO2 removed.” says Brian Novak, Monitoring TransAlta’s Environmental Services manager. To ensure all systems within the AQCS are working Next the flue gas containing the ash moves through the properly monitoring equipment is installed in the stack. bag house. The bag house contains fabric filters to catch The Continuous Emissions Monitoring System is similar the ash and removes it from the gas stream. The bag to what is in place at our other Alberta coal-fired facilities house is like a giant vacuum cleaner. At the end of this and provides real time and historical data on all process some of the lime can be recycled and used again emissions. in the process. An impressive 99.9 per cent of the “People will notice a visible difference when they drive by particulates are captured before the flue gas leaves the Keephills on a cool day as they will see a plume coming stack. from the stack. This plume is mostly water vapour as the system is doing its job to capture the other elements Mercury controls before they leave the stack,” adds Novak. “On a warm In the AQCS the flue gas also passes through mercury day nothing is visible, although the plant is running at full abatement equipment. This equipment captures mercury load. For removal of sulphur dioxide, mercury, nitrogen by using an activated carbon sorbent to remove mercury oxides and particulate matter no other coal plant in and on average more than 75 per cent of the mercury is Canada has better environmental performance than captured. The mercury binds with the ash and Keephills 3.” subsequently this ash is hauled to the mine to an approved disposal site where it is buried. Air quality control system

K3 cooling towers - one of the largest cooling towers in Canada Water treatment plant Explaining the water systems in use at Keephills 3 Water for Keephills 3 is drawn from the Keephills 1 and 2 other plants in TransAlta’s coal fleet,” explains Lloyd system for the plant. The tower is designed to operate cooling and raw water ponds, and is used in the following Bures, Keephills 3 operations manager. “The water under all ambient conditions and is equipped with a systems: system is a completely closed loop, much like the cooling chemical treatment system to maintain cooling system system in your car. Water circulates through piping which efficiency. Boiler make-up water removes heat from the processes and equipment using heat exchangers. Water then travels to the cooling tower, The K3 Water Treatment Plant plays a crucial part in the Auxiliary steam which works much like a car radiator, dissipating the heat power generation process as it removes impurities Keephills 3 requires auxiliary steam to start certain plant and cooling the water before returning to the plant again,” commonly found in raw water. As water evaporates in systems during startup operations. The turbine is one says Bures. the steam generator, the feed-water impurities example. Steam is used for the turbine shaft sealing concentrate. Even small amounts of iron, copper and This arrangement can lower maintenance work because system when the turbine condenser vacuum is silica can accumulate causing serious deposit problems. it avoids scale build up on plant heat exchangers, which is established prior to firing the steam generator. Other There is a team at K3 which conduct the necessary tests typical with an open cooling-water system. examples of auxiliary steam use are for deaerator to ensure the make-up water is ultra-pure and will not heating, and boiler and turbine building heating and deposit impurities in the steam generator. The cooling tower ventilating systems. The cooling tower at Keephills 3 has 18 cells and is one of Closed cooling water system the largest cooling towers in Canada. Its purpose is to “The cooling water system at K3 is different than the allow for maximum cooling-water flow as it’s the cooling

K3 construction site Coal handling plant site preparation K3 construction site Completed stack and laydown area Aug. 2008 Oct. 2008 Nov. 2008 Jan. 2009

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Transmission upgrades and interconnection to the grid For the Keephills 3 (K3) interconnection, AltaLink, a connects the Keephills and Ellerslie substations. The line regulated transmission utility in Alberta completed was originally designed and built for a voltage of 500 kV, several projects to ensure electricity from K3 would be but had been operating at 240 kV. transported to distribution centres in the province. A new high-tech substation was built north of K3 along with a Implo-connection process 500 kV (500,000 volts) power line from the generator to Altalink used the implo-connection process which is used the substation in order to transfer power to the provincial in a variety of specialized joining requirements for grid. The interconnection also included the installation of conductors used in high voltage transmission lines and a 138 kV (138,000 volts) power line from the substation substations. An implo-connector is a small, engineered to supply station service power to K3’s generator. implosive charge, wrapped around a specially designed “The transmission upgrades at Keephills 3 were a critical metallic sleeve, creating a controlled implosive component for the entire power plant,” says Sharon compression. This joining method can be applied at much Payne, commercial manager. “To maximize efficiency and higher pressures and produces a noise free, stronger and to accommodate long-term growth with generation longer lasting connection than traditional hydraulic sources such as K3, it’s important that Alberta’s compression. transmission infrastructure is robust,” adds Payne. “To maximize efficiency and to 1202L transmission line upgrade accommodate long-term growth with The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) also requested AltaLink to increase the voltage of its existing generation sources such as K3, it’s 1202L transmission power line from 240 kV (240,000 important that Alberta’s transmission K3 produces enough electricity annually to volts) to 500 kV. The 1202L transmission line is located infrastructure is robust.” between Edmonton and the Wabamun area and power more than 505,000 homes

Training the next generation K3’s new technology created the opportunity to bring forward a new approach to training. The multi-faceted training program involved a combination of hands on demonstration, classroom training and simulator training. “Since K3 contains systems and equipment significantly different than our existing plants, it gave us the opportunity to build new operator training manuals,” says Lorne Shewfelt, training coordinator. “We introduced more graphics and clearer illustrations. This approach is more user-friendly and effective for learning.” Also new were professionally edited training videos, created using footage from initial equipment vendor training, and a new simulator specific to K3. A unique arrangement was made possible by Capital Power to enable the K3 Commissioning Team to job shadow their counterparts at Genesee 3. Developed with input from a TransAlta operator, the K3 simulator involves a more complex and sophisticated technology than previous simulators, and requires a longer training period of 200 hours. “Operations like the fact they are better prepared for the job and have learned on technology specific to the equipment at K3,” adds Shewfelt. “Our goal is to ensure our current and future personnel have the tools they need to succeed,” notes Shewfelt.

Generator lift K3 construction site Air quality control system construction Transformer assembly March 2009 May 2009 June 2009 Sept. 2009 Building community connections Page 8

One of the world’s largest draglines – Misikitew Draglines are the largest single-bucket excavators built enough overburden to fill 11 regular dump trucks, swing to Other mine equipment today and these machines operate 24-hours a day, seven the side to dump its load and return to centre, every 45 Additional equipment was acquired by the mining fleet days a week and have an expected life span of 50 years. seconds,” adds Campbell. for K3 including two 165-tonne haul trucks which deliver The massive 28 story, 7,257 metric tonne (16 million To help complete the project, the nearby Paul First Nation coal to the plant, a water truck used to control dust, a pound) machine, built by Bucyrus and assembled south school children named the dragline Misikitew (mi-SIK-i- dozer and a 122-tonne ash hauler. The ash hauler of Keephills 3, is uniquely designed to meet the needs of too) meaning ‘the big one.’ transports fly ash and bottom ash to an approved ash the Highvale Mine. disposal site located within the Highvale Mine. Constructing the dragline took a total of three years to complete and it began service in July 2010. It’s used in strip-mining operations to remove overburden which covers the coal seams,” says Jerome Campbell, senior project manager, Keephills 3. “Besides being one of the world’s largest draglines, this machine is unique because it uses new technology making it more productive and efficient compared to other draglines.” The machine is equipped with an alternating current (AC) drive which greatly improves its efficiency when compared to conventional direct current (DC) power units. The AC drive allows the dragline to attain the lowest operating costs and lowest delivery costs per tonne of coal to the plants. The dragline also uses walking mechanism shoes to walk at 0.1 kilometre per hour. The long boom (132.5 metres) allows for a longer swath of overburden to be taken with each pass making the dragline very efficient by design,” explains Campbell. “When in full operation, this dragline is able to scoop

Coal handling systems supply the fuel 150-tonne coal haulers start the fuel process as they which consists of a moving ‘portal rack’ assembly that equipped with thermocouples to detect metal surface transport the coal for Keephills 3 to the Run of Mine pulls coal from the live pile and places it onto another temperatures and provide an early warning in case of a (ROM) dump hopper. After the truck is safely in position, conveyor belt to move it to the K3 secondary crusher smoldering fire,” says Vipin Gupta, K3 plant engineer. the belly of the hauler’s trailer is opened and within three house. At this location, the coal falls through a transfer “Technological advances are evident in the coal mills seconds the coal is emptied into the ROM hopper. chute, into a secondary sizer and here the coal is crushed which allow for uniform application of grinding pressure to a size no larger than 40 milimetres. to the three rollers and a spherical design of rollers and The coal is fed into a primary sizer which crushes the coal grinding segments which improves the grinding contact to no larger than 100 milimetres. The coal then travels Now the coal is the correct size to enter the final transfer surface.” through conveyor belts and transfer houses to the house where it’s placed onto the plant feed conveyor and stacker. The stacker moves along the coal yard to build enters K3’s coal conveying system. Inside the plant, the “We’re seeing positive results with the coal sizers in the the ‘live coal pile”. The live pile contains approximately coal must travel on two more conveyor belts before it coal handling system,” says Mike Lydon, mining manager. 44,000 tonnes of coal and is equivalent to an eight-day reaches its final place – inside one of six coal bunkers. “This sizing technology is something we are considering supply for the plant. Together, the bunkers have a storage capacity for eight for our other coal-fired plants as the sizers can remove hours of coal when K3 is operating at full load and each rocks and other unwanted debris and improve the Coal reclaim system five-story bunker has the capacity for 490 tonnes of coal. efficiency of the boiler,” adds Lydon. The next step in the process is the coal-reclaim system Each coal bunker is lined with stainless steel and is

Coal pulverizers which pulverize the coal to a Coal conveyor fine powder before it’s blown into the boiler

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Turbine/generator installation Inside the boiler house Station service power supply K3 construction site Sept. 2009 Sept. 2009 Dec. 2009 Jan. 2010