TransAlta Alberta Sundance 5 coal unit back
NEW YORK, Nov 12 (Reuters) - TransAlta Corp's (TA.TO) 406-megawatt Unit 5 at the Sundance coal-fired power plant in Alberta returned to service on Nov. 11, the Alberta Electric System Operator said in a report.
Over the past couple of days, the unit shut a couple of times as it exited a major maintenance overhaul that added about 53 MW of generating capacity.
The 2,071-MW Sundance station is located about 40 miles (70 km) west of Edmonton, Alberta, on the south shore of Wabamun Lake. There are six units at the station, including two 280-MW Units 1 (which entered service in 1970) and 2 (1973), the 353-MW Unit 3 (1976), two 406-MW Units 4 (1977) and 5 (1978), and the 399-MW Unit 6 (1980).
The plant consumes about 9 million tonnes of coal each year from TransAlta's Highvale Mine.
Power from the plant is governed by a power purchase agreement from Jan. 1, 2001 until Dec. 31, 2017, for Units 1 and 2, and Dec. 31, 2020, for Units 3, 4, 5 and 6, the company said on its website. Additionally, 53 MW of power from Unit 4 and 44 MW of power from Unit 6 are sold through the PPA Buyers to the Alberta Power Pool.
All other units were available for service.
One MW powers about 1,000 homes in Alberta.
TransAlta, of Calgary, Alberta, owns and operates some 9,000 MW of generating capacity and markets energy commodities in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Australia. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by John Picinich)
