TransAlta completes coal-to-gas switching of Alberta plants

TransAlta Corp. completed the coal-to-gas conversion process at the Keephills 3 plant, marking the full transition of its coal-fired facilities in Alberta to natural gas operation.

The Calgary, Alberta-headquartered independent power producer spent C$29 million on the Keephills 3 conversion and another C$48 million on gas infrastructure and maintenance projects, TransAlta said in a Dec. 29 news release.

The full conversion of Keephills 3, completed nine years ahead of a government target, "is a significant milestone for TransAlta in its transition off coal," President and CEO John Kousinioris said. "Converting to natural gas from coal maintains the current generation capacity of [Keephills 3] and reduces our CO2 emissions by almost 50[%] from approximately 0.86 tonnes CO2e per MWh to approximately 0.43 tonnes CO2e per MWh."

Since 2019, TransAlta has invested C$295 million in its coal-to-gas switching program, which included the conversions of Sundance unit 6, Keephills unit 2, and Sheerness units 1 and 2 and the construction of new high-volume gas delivery infrastructure. In aggregate, the company said it has retired 3,794 MW of coal-fired generation capacity since 2018 while converting 1,659 MW to natural gas.

The reduction in CO2 emissions from the gas-fired units will help the company achieve its target of reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030 over 2015 levels and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

In November 2020, TransAlta announced plans to cease coal-fired power generation in Canada effective Jan. 1, 2022.