http://www.pembina.org/media-release/more-early-coal-retirements-alberta-a-positive-signal
More early coal retirements in Alberta a positive signalPembina reacts
to Atco Energy’s early retirement of coal facilities
May 11, 2017
CALGARY — Binnu Jeyakumar, Program Director, Electricity at the Pembina
Institute, made the following statement in response to Atco’s
announcement it will retire coal facilities ahead of schedule:
“This is more potential good news for Alberta’s electricity and health
sectors. According to Atco’s plan, almost 1,500 MW of coal power will be
retired between one and 10 years ahead of schedule. Atco says this
decision is driven by the expiry of power-purchase agreements,
confirming coal is not competitive in the open market.
“Combined with almost 3,000MW of coal power TransAlta will be retiring
by 2023, this means over 70 per cent of Alberta’s coal is coming offline
by the mid-2020s.
“The ultimate outcome for GHG emissions, Albertans’ health and
electricity bills will depend on what mix of energy efficiency,
renewables, new gas plants and coal-converted-to-gas plants replaces
this coal capacity. If done well, converting some of the coal plants to
burn natural gas can provide short-term transitional capacity that
enables non-emitting technologies to play a larger role in the
electricity grid.
“To ensure the coal phase out delivers the promised health benefits and
efficiently transitions the province to a lower emission electricity
system, converted plants must pay for the carbon emissions in the same
way as all other generators, and have their emissions regulated
appropriately.”