Lennox Generating Station
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. In 2008, the plant obtained regulatory approval for an ozone generation system to control zebra mussel fouling of service water intake pipes.
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. 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 and by an asynchronous interconnection with Hydro-Québec which has served Ottawa since 2010.
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.
Description
The Lennox Generating Station consists of:
- 4 535 MW units
- 2 smokestacks - each 650 feet (200 m) tall.
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 but the location was changed in 2010 as part of a controversial government decision to relocate it and another gas-fired power plant. 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; one report claims $675 million. 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; an additional 25 permanent jobs will be added as a result of the 900MW expansion.
Emissions
| Greenhouse gas | Sum (tonnes) | Sum (tonnes CO2e*) |
|---|---|---|
| CO2 | 180,585.00 | 180,585 |
| CH4 | 42.00 | 882 |
| N2O | 5.00 | 1,550 |
| Total | - | 183,017 |
*Calculated figures for CO2e are rounded to the nearest tonne.
| Year | Emissions (tonnes CO2e) |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 638,074 |
| 2005 | 986,676 |
| 2006 | 305,106 |
| 2007 | 607,761 |
| 2008 | 288,674 |
| 2009 | 222,470 |
| 2010 | 121,412 |
| 2011 | 103,652 |
| 2012 | 183,017 |
See also
References
- ^ Spears, John. "Lennox power plant gets $7 million a month for operating at 1.5 per cent capacity | Toronto Star". thestar.com. The Toronto Star. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ^ "Power Generation: Lennox Generating Station". Ontario Power Generation. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ "Registration Decision: Hankin Ozone Generator (RD2008-12)". Health Canada. 27 November 2008. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
- ^ "Lennox Generating Station earns safety designation". Napanee Guide. 2010-06-04. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
- ^ "Lennox GS Deregistration Analysis" (PDF). 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-02. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ "Outaouais Substation". Hydro Québec. Archived from the original on 2011-01-23. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ Power Plants Around the World Archived 2009-07-19 at the Portuguese Web Archive
- ^ "Drawings of Lennox Generating Station Units 1+2". SkyscraperPage. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ "Drawings of Lennox Generating Station Units 3+4". SkyscraperPage. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ Robert Benzie; Marco Chown Oved (2012-09-24). "Oakville power plant will cost public $40M to scuttle". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
- ^ "Liberal deal to move Oakville gas-fired plant to Lennox will cost $40M". Financial Post. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Bruce Sharp (2012-09-24). "Ontario's Power Trip: The $733-million gas boondoggle". Financial Post. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
- ^ "Oakville gas plant cancellation costs $675M, AG says". CBC News.
- ^ "More reaction to expansion of Lennox generating station". CKWS-TV. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ "Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data search - Canada.ca".