Capital Power has ordered two Mitsubishi Power M501JAC gas turbines to repower its Genesee Units 1 and 2 in Alberta, Canada, from coal to natural gas. The units will combine Mitsubishi air-cooled gas turbines and HRSGs with the existing steam generators.
The repowered units will have a combined cycle efficiency of 64 per cent, making them the most efficient combined cycle units in Canada. The plant will provide 1360 MW of combined capacity, and carbon emissions will decrease by around 60 per cent to a level below the Alberta Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) regulation benchmark.
The repowering project timeline calls for the units to operate in natural gas simple cycle mode during construction, allowing Genesee to be off-coal in 2023, with completion of the repowering of Unit 1 scheduled for 2023, and Unit 2 in 2024.
The M501JAC gas turbines are hydrogen-capable to support further future decarbonisation. They will be able to operate on a mixture of natural gas and up to 30 per cent hydrogen. The units can be converted in the future to operate on 100 per cent hydrogen to generate zero carbon emissions.
Brian Vaasjo, the President and CEO of Capital Power, said that the company is following a strategy with a target to be net carbon neutral before 2050.