Lennox Generating Station

Lennox Generating Station
Location within southern Ontario
Country Canada
Location 7263 33 Highway West, Greater Napanee, Ontario K0H 1G0
Coordinates 44°08′46″N 76°51′09″W / 44.14611°N 76.85250°WCoordinates: 44°08′46″N 76°51′09″W / 44.14611°N 76.85250°W
Status Active
Commission date 1976
Owner(s) Ontario Power Generation
Thermal power station
Primary fuel Natural Gas
Secondary fuel Oil
Type Steam turbine
Power generation
Nameplate capacity 2,120 MW
Proposed: 900 MW
Website
www.opg.com/power/thermal/lennox.asp

Lennox Generating Station is a natural gas-fired 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, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Bath, Ontario.

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.[1] In 2008, the plant obtained regulatory approval for an ozone generation system to control zebra mussel fouling of service water intake pipes.[2]

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.[3] 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[4] and by an asynchronous interconnection with Hydro-Québec which has served Ottawa since 2010.[5]

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.[6]

Description

The Lennox Generating Station consists of:

In 2012, Ontario's government announced an additional 900-megawatt TransCanada Energy natural gas plant to be built at the Lennox Generating Station site; the project was originally planned for Oakville, Ontario[9] but the location was changed in 2010 as part of a controversial government decision to relocate it and another gas-fired power plant.[10][11] 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;[12] one report claims $675 million.[13] 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;[1] an additional 25 permanent jobs will be added as a result of the 900MW expansion.[14]

Emissions

Greenhouse Gases (2012)[15]
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.

Total emissions, 2004-2012[15]
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

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Power Generation: Lennox Generating Station". Ontario Power Generation. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  2. ↑ "Registration Decision: Hankin Ozone Generator (RD2008-12)". Health Canada. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
  3. ↑ "Lennox Generating Station earns safety designation". Napanee Guide. 2010-06-04. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
  4. ↑ "Lennox GS Deregistration Analysis" (PDF). 2007. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  5. ↑ "Outaouais Substation". Hydro Québec. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  6. ↑ Power Plants Around the World
  7. ↑ "Drawings of Lennox Generating Station Units 1+2". SkyscraperPage. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  8. ↑ "Drawings of Lennox Generating Station Units 3+4". SkyscraperPage. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  9. ↑ Robert Benzie; Marco Chown Oved (2012-09-24). "Oakville power plant will cost public $40M to scuttle". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
  10. ↑ "Liberal deal to move Oakville gas-fired plant to Lennox will cost $40M". Financial Post. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  11. ↑ http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/reports_en/mississaugapower_en.pdf
  12. ↑ Bruce Sharp (2012-09-24). "Ontario’s Power Trip: The $733-million gas boondoggle". Financial Post. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
  13. ↑ CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/oakville-gas-plant-cancellation-costs-675m-ag-says-1.1930206. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ "More reaction to expansion of Lennox generating station". CKWS-TV. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 http://www.ec.gc.ca/ges-ghg/donnees-data/index.cfm?do=facility_info&lang=en&ghg_id=G10177&year=2012