Between 75 and 100 people attended the Harmattan Energy Centre public open house on Feb. 22 at the Zella Community Centre.“Overall, it was very positive. I felt that we had some really good feedback,” said Kevin Thornton, Constellation Power Generation communications manager.“People seemed supportive of the project. We will continue to move forward.”U.S. company Constellation Energy announced plans in early February to build a two-unit natural gas-fired peaker plant at the former Champion Hay Processing Facility site, near the crossing of Highway 582 and Rge. Rd. 42 in Mountain View County. The plant is to be named the Harmattan Energy Centre and it would produce 95 megawatts. However, it would only run when electricity demand is high. Construction would begin in spring 2013 and last six to eight months. The plant would start producing electricity in the fall of 2013.At the public open house, residents questioned three aspects: noise, emissions and water.“Those three issues are all part of the due diligence process that we are working on,” said Thornton.“We have consultants and as a part of the whole process, we are going to do studies on all three of those issues.”The plant would use a dry, low-NOX combustion system, which will reduce emissions and water consumption. Moreover, Constellation will undertake noise abatement measures to meet ERCB directives.County resident Richard Ross questioned the company's logic of having a peaker plant at the open house.“They are selling peak power, which is high-priced power,” he said.“I told them that we have cheap gas here and they should be running the plant around the clock to help bring down our power prices.”Ross would have also preferred for the project to be done by a Canadian firm.“But that is the way things go anyhow,” he said.Constellation Energy still has not exercised its option to buy the former Champion Hay Processing Facility site.“It has not been a formal process because we have to make sure we get all the permits and everything else before we go through a formal bidding process for construction and everything like that,” said Bruce Turczynski, vice-president of development at Constellation Energy.“We are just getting the budgetary estimates so that we know what our cost would be.”Constellation Energy is working with AltaLink and TransCanada on interconnection studies. “We are in stage two of the electrical interconnection process right now,” said Turczynski.“It is a six-stage process. It goes all the way until the plant is in operation.”In the springtime, the company will start applying for environmental and AUC permits.Constellation Energy will hold another public open house on the Harmattan Energy Centre in the spring.
