The Coke Boiler Replacement Project will involve the replacement of three ageing petroleum coke-fired boilers at the company’s Oil Sands Base Plant with two cogeneration units, of 800MW capacity
Suncor Energy to undertake the Coke Boiler Replacement Project at its Oil Sands Base Plant (Credit: Suncor Energy Inc)
Suncor Energy revealed plans to invest 1.4bn Canadian dollars (£860m) to replace its coke-fired boilers with two cogeneration units, with a combined capacity of 800MW, under the Coke Boiler Replacement Project at its Oil Sands Base Plant in Alberta, Canada.
The Oil Sands Base Plant is located 25km north of the city of Fort McMurray. The power project supporting the plant is scheduled to be commissioned in the second half of 2023 and will involve replacement of three ageing petroleum coke-fired boilers.
According to Suncor Energy, the new natural gas-fired cogeneration units will generate the steam needed for its extraction and upgrading operations.
On the other hand, the power generated from the units will be transmitted to Alberta’s grid and is expected to meet nearly 8% of the state’s current demand for electricity.
Suncor Energy expects the Coke Boiler Replacement Project to increase demand for clean natural gas sourced from Western Canada.
Benefits expected by Suncor Energy from the Coke Boiler Replacement Project
The Canadian energy company believes that the project will significantly contribute to its goal of an increased C$2bn (£1.23bn) in free funds flow by 2023. The company plans to achieve the target through oil sands operating cost and sustaining capital reductions apart from margin improvements.
Suncor Energy president and CEO Mark Little said: “This is a great example of how Suncor deploys capital in projects that are economically robust, sustainability minded and technologically progressive.
“This project generates economic value for Suncor shareholders and provides baseload, low-carbon power equivalent to displacing 550,000 cars from the road, approximately 15% of vehicles currently in the province of Alberta.”
The Coke Boiler Replacement Project will bring down GHG emissions associated with steam production at the Oil Sands Base Plant by nearly 25%. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions are expected to be reduced by almost 45% and 15%, respectively.
The new cogeneration units will remove the need for a flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) unit, which is used currently to lower sulphur emissions associated with coke fuel.
Suncor Energy said that decommissioning the FGD unit will lower the volume of water it uses from the Athabasca River by nearly 20%.