Energy Efficiency on Display
TransCanada's Cancarb plant uses waste heat recovery to provide emission-less power for the city of Medicine Hat, Alberta
The students donned their high visibility smocks, safety glasses and gloves, and with that they were ready to tour the plant.
Cancarb had been chosen as an ideal touring site for members of the University of Calgary’s Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy Students’ Association (ISEEESA), a student club that emphasizes the need for a cleaner energy supply, a healthy environment and an efficient economy.
As they toured the facility last month, ISEEESA’s President Ba-Cuong Phan explained: “Most people seem to think that energy, environment and economy are mutually exclusive. But plants like this one are a good example of how they can work in harmony.”
Cancarb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TransCanada, was retrofitted with a power plant and waste heat recovery system in 2000. The upgrade allows the heat generated from production of a specialty chemical to be transformed into electricity and sold to the City of Medicine Hat.
“Thanks to a $60-million retrofit, 90,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases are recovered annually and turned into electricity for the municipality of Medicine Hat,” explained Peter Donnelly, manager of energy, risk and analysis at the Cancarb plant. “We supply approximately one-quarter to one-fifth of Medicine Hat’s electricity needs.”
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