EPCOR Power

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EPCOR Power is a limited partnership organized under the laws of the Province of Ontario with "20 wholly-owned power generation assets located in Canada & the United States, a 50 per cent interest in a power generation asset in Washington state, and a 15.4 per cent interest in Primary Energy Recycling Holdings (PERH), an owner of recycled energy assets in the United States." In 2006 EPCOR Power acquired Primary Energy of North Carolina and its two coal plants. The company is also involved in coal mine operations in Canada.[1]

EPCOR Power's Generation Portfolio

The company's power generation projects have a total net generating capacity of 1,464 megawatts and more than four million pounds per hour of thermal energy. Its subsidiary, PERH, wholly owns four recycled energy assets in the United States with an aggregate generation capacity of 283 megawatts, and holds a 50 percent interest the Harbor Coal facility in East Chicago, Indiana. Primary Energy Ventures LLC, a subsidiary of the Partnership since 2006, manages and operates these facilities for PERH.[2]

Existing Coal Plants

EPCOR Power owns 100% of the following plants through its acquisition of Primary Energy of North Carolina:[3]

Plant State Year(s) Built Capacity
Primary Energy Roxboro Power Plant NC 1987 67.5 MW
Southport Plant NC 1987 135 MW

PERH holds a 50 per cent interest in the Harbor Coal LLC Plant in East Chicago, Indiana, a joint venture with Mittal Steel consisting of a pulverized coal processing and injection facility. The Plant became part of EPCOR Power in 2006 as a result of its acquisition of Primary Energy Ventures.

Biomass Conversion

Primary Energy Roxboro Power Plant & Southport Plant, North Carolina

In 2008 Capital Power Corp., an Alberta, Canada-based company, purchased EPCOR Power and began transitioning the plants off of coal with the use of biomass.[4] As of early 2010 Capital Power Corp. had spent $80 million making improvements to both the Primary Energy Roxboro Power Plant and the Southport Plant to co-fire woody biomass and tire-derived fuel along with coal.[5]

Coal Mine Expansion

EPCOR has begun plans for a major expansion of the mine site in Genesee, Canada, which produces about 5.4 million tonnes of coal to fuel Epcor's three power-generating units in the area. The proposed mine expansion will add almost 4,200 hectares, or 55 per cent, to the current 7,300-hectare Epcor site. According to David Lewin, head of Epcor's IGCC project: "In Alberta we have 1,000 years of minable coal. It is an incredible resource."[6]

Articles and Resources

Sources

  1. EPCOR Power, "Welcome to EPCOR Power L.P.", EPCOR Power wesbite, accessed February 2009.
  2. EPCOR Power,"Operations", EPCOR Power website, accessed February 2009.
  3. EPCOR Power,"Operations", EPCOR Power website, September 2009.
  4. "Capital Power Income L.P. reports fourth quarter and year-end results" Yahoo Finance, accessed April 27, 2010.
  5. "Utility case may decide how N.C. wants to regulate renewables" Frank Vinluan, Triangle Business Journal, January 1, 2010.
  6. Dave Cooper,"Epcor moves to make mine 55% bigger Genesee plant has just 15 years' worth of coal" Edmonton Journal, June 9, 2009

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