Lennox Generating Station Explained

Lennox Generating Station
Location Map Caption:Location within southern Ontario
Location:7263 33 Highway West, Greater Napanee, Ontario K0H 1G0
Country:Canada
Coordinates:44.1461°N -76.8525°W
Owner:Ontario Power Generation
Status:O
Th Fuel Primary:Natural gas
Th Fuel Secondary:Fuel oil
Th Technology:Steam turbine
Ps Units Operational:4 × 535 MW
Ps Electrical Capacity:2,140 MW
Ps Electrical Cap Fac:1.5%[1]
Commissioned:1976

Lennox Generating Station is a natural gas- and fuel oil-fired power station in Lennox and Addington County, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by Ontario Power Generation, it is situated on Highway 33 on the north shore of Lake Ontario, 2miles west of Bath, Ontario. It is the largest natural gas power station in Canada by installed capacity.

In the 1970s, Lennox was a solely oil-fired plant in an era of rising oil prices. Oil is delivered by tanker cars via a spur of the Montreal-Kingston-Toronto CN Rail line. From 1982 to 1987 the plant was placed in reserve to surplus power in Ontario. In 1997, the plant was converted to operate with either heavy oil or natural gas.[2] In 2008, the plant obtained regulatory approval for an ozone generation system to control zebra mussel fouling of service water intake pipes.[3]

As of 2007, Lennox represented 50% of Ontario installed generation capacity east of the Toronto zone. When operating at full capacity, the plant claims to be the largest user of natural gas in Ontario.[4] The facility is operated solely at times of peak load; the base load for the Ottawa-Toronto region is supplied by Pickering and Darlington stations in Durham Region[5] and by an asynchronous interconnection with Hydro-Québec which has served Ottawa since 2010.[6]

It is common to operate on natural gas during the summer season and switch to oil in the winter, when demand is high for gas.[7]

Description

The Lennox Generating Station consists of:

In 2012, Ontario's government announced an additional 900-megawatt TransCanada Energy natural gas plant (ultimately called the Napanee Generation Station) to be built at the Lennox Generating Station site; the project was originally planned for Oakville, Ontario[10] but the location was changed in 2010 as part of a controversial government decision to relocate it and another gas-fired power plant.[11] [12] While estimates vary, the additional costs to transport natural gas eastward and generated power westward are expected to represent hundreds of millions of dollars over the lifetime of the new generation plant;[13] one report claims $675 million.[14] The relocation of this proposed plant, and another proposed for Mississauga but displaced to Sarnia's Lambton Generating Station, were key political issues in 2011 and 2014 Ontario elections.

As of 2012, the site employed 160 people;[2] an additional 25 permanent jobs will be added as a result of the 900MW expansion.[15]

Emissions

Greenhouse gas! scope="col"
Sum (tonnes)Sum (tonnes CO2e*)
CO2180,585.00 180,585
CH442.00 882
N2O5.00 1,550
Total- 183,017
Total emissions, 2004-2012
YearEmissions (tonnes CO2e)
2004638,074
2005986,676
2006305,106
2007607,761
2008288,674
2009222,470
2010121,412
2011103,652
2012183,017

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Spears. John. Lennox power plant gets $7 million a month for operating at 1.5 per cent capacity Toronto Star. 8 August 2017. thestar.com. The Toronto Star.
  2. Web site: Power Generation: Lennox Generating Station . . 2012-09-26.
  3. Web site: Registration Decision: Hankin Ozone Generator (RD2008-12) . Health Canada . 27 November 2008 . 2012-10-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130111024652/http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pubs/pest/_decisions/rd2008-12/index-eng.php . 11 January 2013 . dead .
  4. News: Lennox Generating Station earns safety designation . Napanee Guide . 2010-06-04 . 2012-10-12.
  5. Web site: Lennox GS Deregistration Analysis . 2007 . 2012-09-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130902112116/http://ieso.ca/imoweb/pubs/corp2/IESO_REP_0393-Lennox-GS-Deregistration-Analysis.pdf . 2013-09-02 . dead .
  6. Web site: Outaouais Substation . Hydro Québec . 2012-09-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110123200603/http://www.hydroquebec.com/projects/outaouais.html . 2011-01-23 . dead .
  7. http://www.industcards.com/st-other-canada.htm Power Plants Around the World
  8. Web site: Drawings of Lennox Generating Station Units 1+2 . SkyscraperPage . 2012-09-26.
  9. Web site: Drawings of Lennox Generating Station Units 3+4 . SkyscraperPage . 2012-09-26.
  10. News: Robert Benzie . Marco Chown Oved . Oakville power plant will cost public $40M to scuttle . . 2012-10-12 . 2012-09-24.
  11. News: Liberal deal to move Oakville gas-fired plant to Lennox will cost $40M . Financial Post . 24 September 2012 . 2012-09-26.
  12. Web site: Archived copy . 2014-01-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140201225144/http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/reports_en/mississaugapower_en.pdf . 2014-02-01 .
  13. News: Ontario's Power Trip: The $733-million gas boondoggle . Bruce Sharp . . 2012-09-24 . 2012-10-12.
  14. News: Oakville gas plant cancellation costs $675M, AG says. CBC News.
  15. Web site: More reaction to expansion of Lennox generating station . . 2012-09-26.