Gary Holden, chief executive of Enmax said that Bonnybrook facility would be an alternative heat source via a network of underground pipes, to downtown buildings.
The combined heat and power plant at the Bonnybrook Energy Centre, if approved, would be operational by the end of 2011. The estimated cost approximately will be $200m, which will be financed through available funds.
Negotiations were held between the company and Canada Malting to construct a natural gas-fired plant east of Ogden Road, which is a five-to-seven acre parcel.
The utility, to the provincial grid within a period of five years, is expected to construct and add around 1,600MW.
Allen Crowley, an energy analyst with EDC Associates, said: “It is an interesting time for them to build it. It’s almost exactly when the 400MW Keephills 3 (coal-fired) plant is expected to come on.”
Power would be added to the grid through other small projects in the province, Crowley continued.
The company also proposed a similar power plant, a 800MW Shepard station. The Shepard combined-cycle, natural-gas-fired plant generates both electricity and heat, and through a steam turbine reuses the waste heat to produce more electricity. The utility would file an application for the plant with provincial regulators in July 2009, and would be online by mid 2013.
