Northstone DEC 2013 App.Pdf
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Approval Amendment Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act Approval 147028-01-00 Submitted to: Alberta Environment & Sustainable Resource Development Prepared for: Elmworth Generating Station PO Box 5203, Alberta Ave Spruce Grove, AB T7X 3A3 Prepared by: Amberg Corp. Environmental & Regulatory Consultants 840, 510 – 5th Street SW Calgary, Alberta T2P 3S2 Tel: (403) 247 - 3088 November 29, 2013 ADI104000 Northstone Power Corp. Elmworth Power Plant - Approval Amendment November 2013 APPLICATION This approval amendment application was prepared in accordance with the Interim Approvals and Registrations Procedure Regulation, AR 113/93 (Consolidated to AR 251/2001) and Alberta Environment & Sustainable Resource Development’s (AESRD) “Guide to Content of Industrial Approval Applications”, August 1,2013. As part of Northstone Power Corp’s (Northstone) Approval 147028-01-00 under the “Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act R.S.A. 2000, c.E-12, as amended, Northstone is responsible for ensuring that it does not exceed outlined emission limits and the Alberta Ambient Air Objectives. As such, Northstone has retained Amberg: Environmental & Regulatory Consultants (Amberg) to prepare this amendment application including an air quality assessment. Changes requested in this amendment application are related to Approval clauses 4.1. 2, 4.1.3, 4.1.6, and 4.1.8. Details pertaining to the particulars of the requested changes are as follows. 4.1.2 (a) Four 3163 Cooper Bessemer LSV 16 Gen Set stacks identified in the application by the designation G5, G6, G7, and G8 plus one Wartsila 20V34sg Gen-Set stack designated as G9. 4.1.3 Table 4.1-B Stack Heights. Reduce number of Cooper Bessemer LSV 16 Gen-Sets to four and add one Wartsila 20V34SG 9300 kW Gen-Set with stack height of 12 m. 4.1.6 Table 4.1-C Limits Wartsila 20V34SG (G9) NOx 12.6 kg/hr 4.1.8 Add Wartsila 20V34SG Gen-Set as G9. Amberg Environmental & Regulatory Consultants i Northstone Power Corp. Elmworth Power Plant - Approval Amendment November 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS APPLICATION ................................................................................................................. i TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... ii 1.0 APPLICANT IDENTIFICATION .......................................................................... 1 1.1 Company Name and Address ................................................................. 1 1.2 Facility Address ....................................................................................... 1 1.3 Applicant Contact Information ................................................................. 1 2.0 FACILITY IDENTIFICATION .............................................................................. 2 2.1 Legal Land Description ............................................................................ 2 2.2 Geographical Description ........................................................................ 2 2.3 Facility Description and Activities ............................................................ 2 3.0 PROJECT BACKGROUND ................................................................................ 5 3.1 Regulatory ............................................................................................... 5 4.0 PROPOSED CHANGES .................................................................................... 5 5.0 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT ...................................................................... 6 6.0 DESIGN AND OPERATION ............................................................................... 6 7.0 WASTEWATER AND RUNOFF TREATMENT AND CONTROL ....................... 6 8.0 AIR TREATMENT AND CONTROL ................................................................... 6 9.0 DECOMMISSIONING & RECLAMATION PLAN ................................................ 6 10.0 EMERGENCY RESPONSE ............................................................................... 6 APPENDIX 1 APPROVALS AND AMENDMENTS ...................................................... 7 APPENDIX 2 AIR QUALITY ASSESSMENT ............................................................ 24 Amberg Environmental & Regulatory Consultants ii Northstone Power Corp. Elmworth Power Plant - Approval Amendment November 2013 2.0 FACILITY IDENTIFICATION 2.1 Legal Land Description The facility is located at Lot 1, Plan 0122645 in LSD NE-8-70-11-W6M, approximately two kilometers southwest of Elmworth, and 60 kilometers west of Grande Prairie, Alberta. See Figure 2.1. 2.2 Geographical Description The facility is located on gently rolling grassland terrain with some ridges and plateaus in a predominantly agricultural area in the Western Alberta Plains. A regional map is provided in Figure 2.2. 2.3 Facility Description and Activities According to the “Activities Designation Regulation (276/2003)” the facility is classified as a “thermal electric power plant”. The facility operates as a merchant peaking plant and provides electricity to the Alberta Power Pool. The facility is comprised of a building, approximately 1080 m2 in size, which houses an office and four Cooper-Bessemer LSV-16 reciprocating engines with generation units each capable of producing 3.163 MW of electricity. Also, a small boiler is located in the main building and a natural gas line heater is located northeast of the main building. All equipment is fueled by natural gas. South of the main building is the facility’s switchyard. The facility site occupies an area of approximately 4 ha. The facility employs three (3) full time operations personnel. Amberg Environmental & Regulatory Consultants 2 Northstone Power Corp. Elmworth Power Plant - Approval Amendment November 2013 Figure 2.1 Facility Location Elmworth Power Plant Conoco Phillips Gas Plant Amberg Environmental & Regulatory Consultants 3 Northstone Power Corp. Elmworth Power Plant - Approval Amendment November 2013 Figure 2.2 Regional Setting Amberg Environmental & Regulatory Consultants 4 Northstone Power Corp. Elmworth Power Plant - Approval Amendment November 2013 3.0 PROJECT BACKGROUND 3.1 Regulatory The Elmworth Thermal Power Plant was constructed and began operations in 2001. The plant currently generates 9.3 MW of electricity which is provided to the Alberta Power Pool. The facility operates under Approval Number 147028-01-00 as granted under the “Environmental Protection Act” (R.S.A. 2000, c- E12, as amended). Approval 147028-01-00 was issued on April 10, 2012 authorizing the addition of a fifth Cooper-Bessemer LSV-16 turbine generator rated at 3.163 MW An application to the Alberta Utilities Commission will be issued under separate cover. 4.0 PROPOSED CHANGES As outlined in Approval 147028-01-00, intentions were to add a fifth Cooper-Bessemer LSV-16 engine and generator. Recent changes to facility development strategy have focused on the installation of a Wartsila 20V34SG reciprocating engine and generator combination with the potential to generate 9.3 MW of electrical energy. Engine features include four stroke lean burn operation with turbocharger and the engine has an embedded control system to manage the combustion process in each cylinder. Proposed amendments to the Approval include: 4.1.2 (a) Four 3163 Cooper Bessemer LSV 16 Gen Set stacks identified in the application by the designation G5, G6, G7, and G8 plus one Wartsila 20V34sg Gen-Set stack designated as G9. 4.1.3 Table 4.1-B Stack Heights. Reduce number of Cooper Bessemer LSV 16 Gen-Sets to four and add one Wartsila 20V34SG 9300 kW Gen-Set with stack height of 12 m. 4.1.6 Table 4.1-C Limits Wartsila 20V34SG (G9) NOx 12.6 kg/hr 4.1.8 Add Wartsila 20V34SG Gen-Set as G9. There will be no other changes to unit operations at the facility and no other equipment will be installed with the exception of a small 16 by 20 foot building to house the new engine control equipment. Notification of the amendment application will be provided in local media as per the direction of Alberta Environment & Sustainable Resource Development. Amberg Environmental & Regulatory Consultants 5 Northstone Power Corp. Elmworth Power Plant - Approval Amendment November 2013 5.0 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT No changes to the state of the environment are anticipated. Environmental impacts related to the addition of the fifth Cooper-Bessemer Gen-Set were evaluated in the application leading to Approval 147028-01- 00. The substitution of the Wartsila 20V34SG will have a lower emissions profile resulting in improved ambient air quality. Details are provided in the Ambient Air Quality Assessment shown in Appendix 2. Engine cooling will be achieved by a closed loop glycol /water system with aerial coolers and there will be no wastewater effluent from the facility. There will be no industrial run-off from the facility. Equipment is housed in the main plant building which has been designed with a 75 mm curbed secondary containment, including doorways. The building has impermeable floors which are sloped towards a collection sump. Floor drains are pumped to an outside slop tank. Outside the building, all liquid storage has secondary containment and is in accordance with Alberta Energy Regulator Guide 55. 6.0 DESIGN AND OPERATION The new engine and generator will be housed in the main facility building and a small 16 by 20 foot building will be added to the southeast of the main building to house the engine control equipment. 7.0 WASTEWATER AND RUNOFF TREATMENT AND CONTROL There will be no changes to current water handling