Northstone Power Corp. (Northstone) is an Alberta based independent power producer with a natural gas power plant located 60 kilometers west of Grande Prairie and two kilometers southwest of Elmworth. The Facility is located at Lot 1, Plan 0122645 in NE 08-070-11 W6M, within the County of Grande Prairie No. 1.
The Elmworth Generating Station is comprised of a building, approximately 1,080 m2 in size, which houses an office and two 9.3 MW Wärtsilä W20V34SG generating units (NPC 2 and NPC3), giving the facility an overall current operating capacity of 18.6 MW.
The facility was commissioned in 2001 and has been producing electricity when economically viable on an hour-by-hour basis due to the economics inherent in the Alberta electricity market. The facility generates electricity at 7.2 kV and steps it up to 25kV as it passes through to ATCO Substation 731s. The interconnection without any significant upgrades to the ATCO substation has secure line capacity to delivery up to 30 MW of electricity directly to the Alberta Integrated Electrical System (AIES). At the Elmworth facility, Northstone is entitled to a line loss credit and other distribution-based credits, which are also paid by the AESO. The credits are paid to generation facilities in areas of high-power usage and low power production, which the Elmworth facility qualifies for. Additionally, Northstone can actively participate in the Ancillary Service (AS) market to support the reliability of the AIES.
The gas supply for the Elmworth Generating Station is currently procured through a secure fuel supply contract from an adjacent gas plant operated by Cenovus Energy (formally ConocoPhillips Resources). The gas plant produces significantly more gas on a daily basis that is required by the Elmworth facility and has a life expectancy in excess of 20 years. Northstone owns the fuel gas pipeline on their property (Cenovus owns the part of pipeline on their property and the two facilities are 0.5km apart).
- The Wärtsilä 34SG is a four-stroke, spark-ignited, lean-burn gas engine generating set. Its agility and flexibility make the Wärtsilä 34SG generating set an excellent choice for both flexible baseload and balancing renewables applications. It also offers a unique fast-starting capability, which enables rapid response to fluctuations inherent to renewable generation.
- Wärtsilä 34SG helps to provide an efficient, reliable and cost-efficient source of energy for power producers. It also provides enough spinning reserve for balancing whenever needed. The Wärtsilä 34SG engine generating set is extremely reliable as it is based on the well-proven Wärtsilä 32 engine, that has a track record from the mid-1990s.
Corporate Information
Northstone Power Corp., is incorporated under the laws of the province of Alberta.
Head Office
25B South Ave, PO Box 5203
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada T7X 3A3
P: 780 960 2330 F: 780 960 9293
Facility Location
701044 RR 114
Elmworth, Alberta, Canada T0H 1J0
P: 780 354 8147