Proposed clean hydro project gaining supporters

Darcy Henton, April 13, 2008, The Edmonton Journal -- A new proposal to construct a $5-billion "emissions-free" hydro-electric project in northeastern Alberta is gaining cautious support from some Alberta environmentalists and politicians.

Energy and pipeline giant TransCanada Corp has partnered with ATCO Power Ltd. to examine the feasibility of building a 1,200- to 1,300-megawatt hydro project on the Slave River north of Fort Chipewyan near the Northwest Territories boundary.

Liberal environment critic David Swann said a hydro-electric project would be much more preferable to another coal-fired plant or a nuclear facility like the 4,400-megawatt, $10-billion facility being proposed near Peace River.

"I think this is the kind of direction Alberta has needed to go for some time," he said Saturday. "This holds a lot of promise. I think we should be enabling this to happen, provided there are assessments of local sensitivities and First Nations interests."

The proposal, which would be Alberta's largest hydro-electric project, would not involve construction of a dam and reservoir but would stream river water through turbines to generate power.

David Parker, of Edmonton Friends of the North Environmental Society, said the project sounds preferable to large dam and reservoir projects that flood hectares of land and release toxic mercury into the environment.

"I won't put my stamp of approval on it completely until I know all the facts, but it sounds like a good option," he said. "It sounds like a feasible idea, but we object to any proposal that would feed the expansion of the tarsands."

Ricardo Acuna of the Parkland Institute, a University of Alberta think-tank, also said hydroelectric power is better than coal-fired power, but he, too, stressed that a better option might be to slow development of the oilsands and develop a long-term power plan.

"It seems to me they keep dealing with one-offs and no one is looking at an over-arching plan," he said.

Alberta Energy believes the province will need to double its electrical generation by 2027 to meet what has been called the fastest-growing demand for electricity in North America.

Wayne St. Amour, a spokesman for the Alberta Electrical System Operator, said the province has a current generating

capacity of 12,000 megawatts, mostly from coal and gas-fired plants.

He said the province is a net importer of electricity from Saskatchewan and British Columbia to meet its rapidly growing demand. The demand is increasing at a rate equivalent to adding a city the size of Red Deer to the electrical grid every year, he said. The new generation added in Alberta in the past decade is the equivalent of Saskatchewan's entire electricity supply.

St. Amour said a new plant the size of the one being proposed on the Slave River is "welcome news."

"We're aware Alberta is growing at a rapid rate and all generation projects are exciting news for Alberta in terms of being able to add new options for additional reliability," he said.

TransCanada Corp spokeswoman Shela Shapiro, said the company is in the early stages of the preliminary assessment process.

"Our main focus right now is to get to know the communities and local governments ... and to understand the possible impacts associated with any potential development in the area," she said. "Working with the communities will be a key to any successful development. We will initially focus on those communities that would be directly impacted if a development were to proceed."

She said the project could provide an "environmentally and economically

attractive source of electricity," while providing the local communities with new opportunities and infrastructure.

Shapiro said that if a decision is made to proceed with the project it could take 12 years or more to get through the community consultation, feasibility studies, detailed engineering, regulatory

approvals and construction.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gene Zwozdesky said the companies would have an obligation to deal with First

Nations communities that would be impacted by the project, but he says it could be a win-win situation for both sides.

"These projects bring not only economic development and necessary power, but they also provide tremendous employment opportunities," he said.

Alberta Environment conducted a study into the feasibility of the area's

potential for hydro-electric generation in the 1980s, but the project was put on hold indefinitely.

Two men who were involved in the early study say the project may be a lot more feasible today.

"At the time it was concluded it wasn't worth the risk compared to the development of more coal-fired generation," said Keith Provost, a former Alberta Power vice-president who headed the province's electric utility planning council that planned new generation.

"I think it is quite feasible now."

He said one area of concern at the time was the impact of the project on the nesting grounds of North America's most northerly flock of river pelicans.

"I think there are probably more concerns now about greenhouse gas emissions than there are about pelicans," he said. "I think it probably makes a lot of sense today."

He said the project would require construction of a major transmission line to tie in electricity to the oilsands region near Fort McMurray and to bring electricity down to Edmonton, but there aren't many landowners in the area.

Allan Warrack, a former Tory minister of lands and forests and later utilities and telephones during the 1970s, said the project fell victim to the National Energy Program that caused a dramatic downturn in the economy and eliminated the need for additional power.

"The electricity demand dried up for a period of years basically because of the imposition of federal government policy on the province," said Warrack, who did some consulting work on the project after he left government.

"I always thought some day -- and maybe this is the day -- it would make sense," he said.