Major construction at Atikokan Generating Station should begin in 2012
By: M. McKinnon
Atikokan Progress
Although there are challenges in the road ahead, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is confident it can switch the Atikokan Generating Station to biomass well before the province’s December 31, 2014, deadline for coal-fired generation.
In a presentation to Council in September, OPG executives outlined where the company was at with the project, and where it was headed. They outlined an eight-step process for the conversion, of which three have been completed: developing the engineering concept, starting the search for wood pellet fuel, and securing provincial approval for going ahead with the switch (the Ministry of Energy directive giving the Ontario Power Authority permission to negotiate a power purchase agreement with OPG).
The negotiations with the Ontario Power Authority are going on now. Once the power purchase agreement in complete (step four), the company will start developing contracts for the purchase of fuel and of the modifications necessary to the plant (step five) and bring them to the OPG board for approval (step six).
