Environment
What is supercritical boiler technology?
What type of air emission controls are planned in the designs for Keephills 3?
What about carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, the primary component of greenhouse gases (GHG)?
Will the Keephills 3 facility use clean coal technology or coal gasification?

Construction
What are the hours of construction activity?
How long will it take to construct Keephills 3?
How many additional workers will be employed at the site during construction?
During construction of the facility, what plans are there to manage the extra volume of traffic on the nearby roads?

Economic Contribution
How many full-time positions are expected to be added at the Keephills power plant once the plant is online?

General Overview
What are the hours of construction activity?
Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
When required, there may be occasional work on weekends, evenings or during nightshifts throughout the project. Noisy construction activities that could affect local residents would continue to be restricted to between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

What is the project?
Keephills 3 is a 450 MW power project adjacent to the existing Keephills power plant located about 70 kilometres west of Edmonton, Alberta. The facility will use supercritical boiler technology which provides for improved environmental performance.

Who will own and operate the Keephills 3 facility?
TransAlta and Capital Power will be equal partners in the ownership of Keepills 3, with Capital Power responsible for construction. Upon completion, TransAlta will operate the facility and Capital Power and TransAlta will independently dispatch and market their share of the unit's electrical output. Keephills 3 will operate as a merchant plant.

Is there a need for more power generation in Alberta?
Alberta’s economy is thriving and as the economy grows so too does the demand for power. Keephills 3 is key to ensuring TransAlta and Capital Power continue to supply a reliable and cost-effective source of power to meet Alberta's growing demand for electricity.

According to the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), if the demand for power and the rate of growth in Alberta continues as forecast, the addition of up to 3,800 MW of new generation may be required by 2016.

What regulatory approvals have TransAlta and Capital Power received for the project?
TransAlta and Capital Power have received all required approvals in order to proceed with this project. They include the following:

Alberta and Energy Utilities Board (Approval No. U2007-050)

Alberta Environment (Approval No. 10324-01-08)

Parkland County Development Permit (06-D-269)

Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation – Road Side Development Permit

Alberta Community Development – Historical Resources Act Clearance

What are the major cost components of the Keephills project?
i.e. labour, equipment, engineering, mine, legal and regulatory
In February 2006, owners TransAlta and Capital Power announced that the capital cost for the project, including mine capital, is expected to be approximately $1.6 billion. We are not prepared to share specific cost information for competitive reasons.

What about the Centennial project? Is Keephills 3 a different project?
Keephills 3 is a smaller version of the Centennial Project. In July 2001, TransAlta submitted an application and environmental impact statement to the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) and Alberta Environment for the expansion of the Keephills power plant. That application was known as the Centennial project. This application included two 450 MW generating units using the same boiler technology as Units 1 and 2 and resulted in approval in 2002. In 2006, TransAlta and Capital Power signed a development agreement for Keephills 3. During the development phase, both companies worked together to better define the costs, timing and technology for the proposed facility.

Environment
What is supercritical boiler technology?
Keephills 3 will use supercritical technology – the best available technology economically achievable for use with sub-bituminous coal. It is the same technology that Capital Power and TransAlta introduced to Canada at the Genesee 3 facility. Supercritical technology is consistent with the state of the art in the world for sub-bituminous coal.

The supercritical process features higher boiler temperatures and pressures, combined with a high efficiency turbine. Because less fuel is used to produce the same amount of power, air emissions including carbon dioxide are lower per MW than a conventional coal plant. Emissions are further reduced through investments in a flue-gas desulphurization unit, low nitrogen oxide burners and fabric filters.

What type of air emission controls are planned in the designs for Keephills 3?
Keephills 3 is being designed to meet the 2006 new unit emission limits for sulphur dioxide (SO₂) , nitrogen oxides (NOx), mercury (Hg) and particulate matter under the 2006 Alberta Air Emissions Standards for Electricity Generation.

Emissions of SO₂, NOx and mercury will each be reduced by 60 to 80 per cent in comparison to the same amount of power produced by the four units at Wabamun. We'll be installing:

• A flue-gas desulphurization unit for removing SO₂ from the flue gas.
• Low NOx staged burners to reduce NOx emissions.
• A mercury emission control system, likely using activated carbon injection technology.
• A high efficiency particulate collection system, using fabric filters (baghouse) to reduce particulate emissions.

What about carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, the primary component of greenhouse gases (GHG)?
K3 will achieve a dramatic and immediate reduction in total air emissions, reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by the equivalent of 190,000 fewer vehicles on the road or planting 100 million trees. The plant will emit 24 per cent less carbon dioxide (CO₂) in producing the same amount of power as the four obsolete Wabamun units being fully retired by TransAlta in 2010.

Will the Keephills 3 facility use clean coal technology or coal gasification?
Keephills 3 will be the best available technology economically achievable for use with sub-bituminous coal. Both TransAlta and Capital Power examined the application of gasification with carbon capture and sequestration for this project, but concluded that gasification-based power generation had not yet reached acceptable standards for reliability, cost competitiveness or operation. We are working with our partners in the Canadian Clean Power Coalition (CCPC), to research, develop and demonstrate the next generation of coal technology. 

Construction
What are the hours of construction activity for Keephills 3?
The hours of construction activity are: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday.

When required, there may be occasional work on weekends, evenings or during night shifts throughout the project. Noisy construction activities that could affect local residents would continue to be restricted to between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

How long will it take to construct Keephills 3?
Construction of Keephills 3 began at the end of February 2007 and is targeted for commissioning in the first quarter of 2011.

How many additional workers will be employed at the site during construction?
Construction of Keephills 3 is anticipated to result in a peak workforce of up to 1000 people starting in 2009.

During construction of the facility, what plans are there to manage the extra volume of traffic on the nearby roads?
Throughout the project, TransAlta and Capital Power will continue to work with Alberta Infrastructure, RCMP, Alberta Sheriffs, Parkland County, school divisions and our contractors as part of our commitment to helping keep roads safe.

• To help improve traffic flow and increase safety around the construction site, acceleration and deceleration lanes were installed in the summer of 2007 along Hwy 627 at the RR 40 intersection.
• Reduced speed limit to 50 km/h on the portion of the RR40 at the construction site entrance.
• Flashing solar lights have been added to the stop signs at the intersection of Hwy 627 and Hwy 770.
• Employee bussing began in January 2008 reducing the number of vehicles to and from the K3 site. The number of buses will increase in relation to the number of workers.

Gravel for the project is hauled to the construction site from a gravel pit on the North Saskatchewan River up RR35 to Hwy 627. Concrete aggregate is hauled to the construction site from the Entwistle area, down Hwy 770 to Hwy 627.

Gravel hauls for the summer of 2008 will average 33–35 loads per day. Concrete aggregate hauls will average 10 to 12 loads per day.

Summer haul hours of operation between July 1 and September 1, 2008 are:

• 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday
• 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
• There are no gravel hauls on Sunday 

Economic Contribution
How many full-time positions are expected to be added at the Keephills power plant once the plant is online?
About 30 full-time positions are expected to be added when Keephills 3 is operation.