N.B. Power turns to carbon-emitting natural gas for new electricity
Minister says gas plant could mean lower emissions overall, if it replaces Coleson Cove at peak demand times
N.B. Power is turning back to carbon-emitting fossil fuels as it scrambles to find new ways to generate electricity to meet record-breaking demands.
The utility plans to buy power generated by a new natural-gas plant to be built by a private company outside Moncton — a move at odds with the current push to achieve a net-zero-emissions power grid a decade from now.
But Energy Minister René Legacy says it will allow N.B. Power to rely less than it does now on its Coleson Cove generation station, which burns higher-emitting heavy oil during peak demand times.
"In my mind it would probably be [used] ahead of Coleson Cove, which is the heavy fuel," he said.
"So it's less emitting on that aside, short term. So we should see a reduction in carbon emissions short term."
Coleson Cove can generate more than three times as much electricity as N.B. Power's only natural gas generating station, Bayside in Saint John.
But Coleson Cove produced 26 times as many greenhouse gas emissions as Bayside in 2022, according to federal data.
N.B. Power said no one was available for an interview on the project Thursday, but in a statement the utility said it issued a request for proposals in June, "and we are currently moving forward with due diligence with a proponent."
The likely location is an industrial area in Scoudouc outside Moncton, near the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline that would supply it with gas, the statement said.
Officials said at a legislative committee hearing last year that during a February 2023 cold snap, N.B. Power faced an all-time peak demand for electricity that it came perilously close to not being able to meet.
Because of population growth, "it's a trend," the utility's Andy Hayward said at the time. "We're going to set peak demand records on a regular basis as we go forward."
Moe Qureshi, the director of climate research for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, said he's worried that those soaring population numbers and heightened demand will make the proposed gas plant a regular staple of the utility's grid.
"If they don't have more clean energy projects online, they're going to be more dependent on this fossil reactor. So it might not just be a peaking facility is what I'm worried about," he said.
But Legacy said N.B. Power will soon be adding more renewable power, such as wind energy, to its grid and those sources need a backup supply of reliable electricity for times when wind turbines can't operate.
The new plant will be convertible to non-emitting energy sources, such as hydrogen, in the future, Legacy said.
The minister said he doesn't know which company N.B. Power has signed the agreement with but was told it's a business that has built gas plants before.
He also said by buying power from a private operator, the utility is not exposing itself to the financial risk of constructing a plant itself.
N.B. Power is facing challenges to several of its generating units as it struggles to reach climate policy objectives and meet a growing demand for electricity.
Its Belledune plant must stop burning coal by 2030, its zero-emissions Mactaquac hydro dam needs a multibillion-dollar overhaul, and the future of the Point Lepreau nuclear station is unclear.
"The general takeaway is that there is no silver bullet," the utility said in its 2023 Integrated Resource Plan.
The agreement with a private operator for natural gas frees up N.B. Power financially to pursue other necessary but expensive projects, like the Mactaquac upgrade.
That project will involve taking some turbines at Mactaquac offline, another reason the new gas plant is needed, Legacy said.
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