Nanticoke Generating Station

Former coal-fired power station in Nanticoke, Ontario, Canada This article is about the defunct coal-fired power station. For the solar power station, see Nanticoke Solar Facility.

Nanticoke Generating Station


Country	Canada
Location	Nanticoke, Haldimand County, Ontario
Coordinates	42°48′0″N 80°3′1″W / 42.80000°N 80.05028°W / 42.80000; -80.05028
Status	Decommissioned
Construction began	1967 (1967)
Commission date	1972–1978
Decommission date	2013 (2013)
Owner	Ontario Power Generation
Operator	Ontario Power Generation
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Sub-bituminous coal
Turbine technology	Steam turbine
Cooling source	Lake Erie
Power generation


Units decommissioned	8 × 500 MW
Nameplate capacity	3964 MW (8 units) 1880 MW (4 units)
Capacity factor	69% (peak)
Annual net output	24,000 GWh (peak)
External links
Commons	Related media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

The Nanticoke Generating Station was a coal-fired power station in Nanticoke, Ontario in operation from 1972 to 2013. It was the largest coal power station in North America and, at full capacity, it could provide 3,964 MW of power into the southern Ontario power grid from its base in Nanticoke, Ontario, Canada, and provided as much as 15% of Ontario's electricity.

It was decommissioned in 2013 as part of the Government of Ontario's commitment to eliminate coal power. A 44 MW photovoltaic power station, the Nanticoke Solar Facility, was built on the site and entered service in 2019.

Prior to the commencement of decommissioning, Nanticoke was one of Canada's top ten single sources of greenhouse gases.

History

The Nanticoke Generating Station was built on the site of the "Battle of Nanticoke", where in 1813 the Norfolk volunteer militia routed a band of American marauders who had been pillaging area farms and terrorizing the country, an exploit that inspired the British military forces and the people of Upper Canada during the War of 1812. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1924.

Ontario Hydro revealed plans to build a 4,000 MW fossil-fuel generating station near Long Point, Ontario in 1967. Its current site was selected in Nanticoke, Ontario, because of the nearby harbour, the proximity of United States coal supplies, and proximity to much of Ontario's population. The construction of the plant cost CAN$800 million and operations started in 1972. Eight pulverized coal-fired steam generators were built in phases between 1973 and 1978.

By 1981, the plant was consuming 35,000 tonnes of coal per day. Over the years, another $900 million was invested in making the plant more energy efficient, robust, and improving its emissions.

Plant operations

Power generation and distribution

At full capacity (4000 MW) with all eight generating units functioning, the station's annual electricity production had been as high as 24 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), enough electricity to run nearly 2.5 million households. Although the plant houses eight generating units, four of those units were retired previously prior to the plant's overall closure. (Two were retired in 2010, and two were retired in 2011.) The remaining four units are not in operation.

Previously, power generation at this plant was on a stand-by basis, only operating during peak levels of energy consumption, or when other generating facilities are unavailable. At other times the plant would remain idle. When demand for electricity was high, the remaining four active generating units were put into service, with the maximum potential to produce approximately 5% of Ontario's total generating capacity. (1880 MW out of the 34,079 MW of existing power generation in the province as of January 2012.) The plant is connected to the power grid by numerous 230,000- and 500,000-volt transmission lines.

Cooling water for the plant was drawn from Lake Erie using two pipes that are 6.5 m in diameter, stretch 550 m offshore, and sit 10 m below the surface. The plant had two multi-flue smokestacks which were both 198 m (650 ft) tall. A dock on the shore of the site allows ships to deliver coal to an on-site stock pile, which can hold up to 4.5 megatonnes.

At its peak, Nanticoke employed approximately 634 staff from the Haldimand—Norfolk area.

Emissions

The Nanticoke station used to be one of Canada's largest greenhouse gas emitters and polluters. In 2001, it was the largest single source of greenhouse gases according to Environment Canada. Due to major reductions in output since 2009, it was eventually surpassed by facilities in Alberta.

Greenhouse Gases (2013)
Greenhouse gas	Amount (tonnes)	Carbon dioxide equivalent*
CO₂	1,530,237	1,530,237
CH₄	24.80	620
N₂O	27.30	8,135
Total	-	1,538,992
*Calculated figures for CO₂e are rounded to the nearest tonne.

Total emissions, 2004–2014
Year	Emissions (tonnes CO₂e)
2004	14,715,952
2005	17,629,437
2006	16,271,466
2007	17,887,649
2008	15,427,913
2009	6,037,137
2010	8,601,215
2011	2,836,299
2012	2,021,667
2013	1,538,992
2014	0*
* Facility shut down in 2013

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Decommissioning

The Government of Ontario had originally targeted to phase out all of its coal plants by 2009, but abandoned this target in 2006 to the ire of organizations representing nurses and physicians, community groups and environment groups. The province could not replace Nanticoke's energy output by the deadline, despite Units 3 and 4 at Bruce "A" being brought back online between 2003 and 2004. The province was examining replacing this output using nuclear power by refurbishing its existing fleet, and building two additional reactors at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. Bruce Power, Canada's only private nuclear power company, also proposed building two reactors on former Stelco lands in Nanticoke. However, this was met with immediate opposition and dismissal from the government. "It's a speculative move on the part of a private company...It doesn't enjoy the support, encouragement approval...of the Government of Ontario," stated George Smitherman, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure. Bruce Power did however move ahead with the refurbishment of "A" Units 1 and 2 in 2005 and Ontario Power Generation commenced refurbishment of Darlington in 2016.

Two units at Nanticoke were shut down in fall 2010. Another two were shut down in 2011. The final four were shut down on December 31, 2013. This was made possible, in part, by the reactivation of Units 1 and 2 at Bruce Nuclear Generating Station the previous year. In July 2015, Ontario Power Generation announced it will no longer "preserve and staff Nanticoke", and the expectation is that the plant will be permanently decommissioned. Its two smokestacks were imploded using controlled demolition on February 28, 2018. The last sections were demolished on August 22, 2019.