N.B. Power, U.S. company pick Tantramar site for natural gas plant
CBC
N.B. Power has changed the location of a proposed natural gas plant it wants to see built in southeast New Brunswick, opting for a remote location in the Tantramar area instead of a site in Scoudouc.
The plant would begin operating in 2028 and would be able to generate 500 megawatts of electricity, most of it to meet growing demand caused by population growth.
It would also emit greenhouse gases, though N.B. Power said last year there would be a net reduction in emissions provincially because the new plant would provide backup generation for an increasing share of wind and solar energy on the grid.
"Today, for example, there's 400 megawatts of installed wind energy in New Brunswick and only about 40 megawatts is producing electricity," Brad Coady, N.B. Power's vice-president of business development, said in an interview.
"What we're looking for is nimble machines that can come on, come on quickly and only stay on as long as is needed to integrate that wind energy. It'll fill in the voids when the wind isn't there and the sun isn't there."
The plant would be built by Missouri-based ProEnergy and operated by its subsidiary, Rigs Energy Atlantic, which includes a minority equity investment from the North Shore Mi'kmaq Tribal Council made up of seven First Nations.
John MacIsaac, who is heading the project for private developer ProEnergy Canada, said the plant will allow N.B. Power to reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions by 250,000 tonnes a year.
The 20-hectare site is in Centre Village, along Route 940, within the municipality of Tantramar.
It's where the Maritimes and Northeast natural gas pipeline crosses paths with an N.B. Power transmission line.
The plant would draw gas from that pipeline to run 10 turbines that would generate power to sell on the grid under a 25-year purchase agreement.
The assessment submission says the Tantramar site was chosen after consultations with the Mi'kmaw council, which said there would be fewer environmental impacts than at the Scoudouc site.
If the plant is approved, preliminary work would start in early 2026, and it would be operating by the third quarter of 2028.
MacIsaac said his figure of a 250,000-tonne net reduction in N.B. Power's greenhouse gas emissions came from ProEnergy's discussions with the utility.
A utility spokesperson gave that figure last year and said the reduction would come from avoiding the use of coal at the Belledune generation station and fuel oil at Coleson Cove — both of which emit more carbon dioxide — to back up renewables.
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