In 2015, the Government of Alberta announced that it would be eliminating emissions from coal-powered generation by 2030. As a part of emissions elimination, all coal-fired power plants in the province will be converted to natural gas. The provincial phase-out of coal-powered generation is far ahead of schedule. In fact, Alberta is expected to be coal-free by 2024.
Read on to learn about how this will affect the Alberta energy market, the alternatives to coal-derived power, how coal plants can affect our health, and more.
What are coal-fired power plants?
Coal-fired power plants are power plants that combust coal to produce energy. As of 2023, coal supplies over a third of global electricity generation.
Why is coal-powered energy being phased out? Why is it the government’s goal to phase out coal-powered generation by 2030?
By reducing and eliminating emissions from coal-powered generation, fewer greenhouse gases such as CO2 will be created. With fewer greenhouse gases emitted, global warming will become more manageable. In the next section, we explain how the existence of coal-powered fire plants affects the health of Canadians and why phasing out coal-powered energy is important.
The health costs of coal-fired power plants
According to an article from the CBC, the pollution released from Alberta’s coal-fired power plants costs the healthcare system approximately $300 million a year. In addition to this, such pollutants also contribute to over 4,000 asthma episodes, over 700 emergency room visits and around 80 hospital admissions each year.
Furthermore, the healthcare costs associated with treating pollution-associated illnesses plus the costs of lost productivity due to such illness are projected to be more than $760 million between 2015 and 2030.
A report from The Pembina Foundation, The Asthma Society of Canada, The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, and the Lung Association found that the economic damages from the health impacts of air pollution costs between 0.7 – 2.1 cents per kWh of electricity generated via coal.
When health and environmental costs are factored in, other cleaner forms of energy cost around the same amount as coal does, according to the Broadbent Institute.
Energy pricing: How this affects the energy market and utility costs in the province
As coal-powered electricity is being phased out, this will result in an increase in the usage and investment of renewable energy, as well as natural gas-powered electricity generation.
In the short term, some increases in the cost of electricity may occur – this could be due to coal-fired power plants closing down earlier than expected or companies needing to source their energy from more expensive sources.
It’s important to note that consumer energy bills are not expected to increase drastically by two or three times because of the phasing out of coal-powered electricity. In fact, increases in the prices of electricity were predicted even before any coal phase-out announcements, according to the 2014 Alberta Electric System Operator, Transmission Rate Impact Projection Workbook.
Even though pool prices are predicted to rise a significant amount until 2023, it’s important to remember that consumer power bills are made up of several costs other than the cost of electricity, such as transmission costs and distribution costs. So, while power bills may cost more, they will not cost double or triple the usual amount.
What are the new sources of energy in the province?
In response to the phasing out of coal-generated electricity, several coal-powered plants have been converted to run on natural gas, while other projects involving substantial new wind and solar generation are being introduced and maintained, according to an article from the CBC.
You can learn more about the electricity sources of each province in Canada from our post about it.
What has been done since Alberta started transitioning away from coal-fired power plants?
“Where are we now?” You must be asking yourself. Coal power has decreased drastically in Alberta – it now only accounts for a quarter of Alberta’s electricity, according to the CBC. A large part of this change was due to carbon pricing – in 2018, the Carbon Competitiveness Incentive Regulation set a common baseline for all electricity generators at the emissions intensity of an efficient combined-cycle natural gas plant. And as we noted earlier, the transition from coal is scheduled to be fully complete by early 2024.
Such a scenario increased carbon costs significantly for coal plants, while efficient natural gas-powered plants saw declines in their carbon costs, encouraging the use of natural gas over coal for electricity production.
Alberta has also announced and built several renewable energy projects within the province since announcing its transition away from coal-generated electricity. Below are some of the main companies and green energy projects in Alberta:
Capital Power
- Strathmore Solar – A 41-megawatt solar project located in Strathmore, Alberta. The site opened in 2022.
- Clydesdale Solar: Located on privately owned land near Taber, Alberta, the facility has 75 megawatts of owned capacity. It began operations in December 2022.
- Whitla Wind – A 353-megawatt wind farm located in the County of Forty Mile, Alberta. The facility began commercial operations on December 1, 2019. Whitla Wind was completed on December 1, 2021, when the Phase 2 and 3 expansions started commercial operations.
- Halkirk 1 Wind: Located on 25,000 acres of private land in Paintearh County, Halkirk 1 Wind has 150 megawatts of owned capacity. The facility began operations in 2012.
EDP Renewables Canada Ltd.
- Sharp Hills Wind Farm: Currently under construction with a planned capacity of up to 300 megawatts. The wind farm will be located near the Sedalia and New Bridgen hamlets.
- Blue Bridge Solar Park: Currently under construction with a planned capacity of 150 megawatts. The facility will be located in Cyprus County, Alberta.
Enel Green Power North America Inc.
- Grizzly Bear Creek: Located in Minburn and Vermillion River counties, this project has 34 wind turbines with 152 megawatts of installed capacity.
- Castle Rock Ridge Wind Farms: Located in Pincher Creek, Castle Rock Ridge I and II began operations on May 21, 2020. The wind farm has a capacity of 105 megawatts.
Capstone Infrastructure Corporation
- Buffalo Atlee wind farms: Will comprise four project phases, all of which will be built at the same time. The wind farms will have 13 turbines and are expected to produce 350,000 megawatt-hours per year.
- Claresholm Solar: This is Canada’s largest solar facility with 132 megawatts of capacity. The facility became fully operational on April 15, 2021.
- Kneehill Solar: A 25-megawatt solar facility in development near Kneehill County, Alberta. However, the facility did begin commercial operations in March 2023.
- Michichi Solar: A 25-megawatt solar facility under construction in Starland Country, Alberta. The project achieved commercial operation in March 2023.
Potentia Renewables Inc.
- Prominence Solar: Under development in Lethbridge County with a potential 80 megawatts of capacity.
- Halsbury Solar: Currently under development. This project will have 80 megawatts of capacity.
- Jenner Wind Power: A three-phase wind project located near Jenner, Alberta. The project will produce 303 megawatts of power and is scheduled to begin operations in 2024.
- Paintearth Wind: This project has been in development since 2011. The projected completion date is Spring 2024. The combined capacity of Paintearth Wind is 302 megawatts.
- Wheatland Wind: Located just outside of Drumheller, Alberta, this wind farm began commercial operations on November 30, 2022. It has a capacity of 122.4 megawatts.
- Stirling Wind: Currently under development and expected to be completed by the end of 2023. The project will have a capacity of 113 megawatts.
