Brandon Generating Station

Brandon Generating Station
Natural-gas fired combustion turbine building at Brandon GS
Country	Canada
Location	Brandon, Manitoba
Coordinates	49°50′43″N 99°53′21″W
Status	Active
Commission date	1958
Owner	Manitoba Hydro
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Subbituminous coa Natural Gas
Turbine technology	Steam turbine Gas turbine
Power generation
Nameplate capacity	340 MW

Brandon Generating Station is a subbituminous coal- and natural gas-fired station owned by Manitoba Hydro, located in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. The station was first built to burn lignite from Saskatchewan.

On 1 January 2010 Unit 5, the sole coal-fired unit, was downgraded to emergency use only per section 16 of the Manitoba Climate Change and Emissions Reductions Act. Unit 5 may only operate as a generator under certain circumstances:

• To prevent a situation which would lead to a disruption or destabilization of the power supply.
• In drought years where demand exceeds forecasted supply.
• To maintain the generator in a state of readiness and availability.

The last allowance requires Unit 5 to be active for 3–4 days each month at 10-15% of maximum capacity. In a typical year without any major emergency use, Unit 5 is expected to generate 125 GWh; 100 GWh is from emergency preparedness activities and 25G Wh from actual emergency use.

Description

The station consists of:

• 4 x 33 MW units (In 1996 three units were retired while the remaining unit is used as a synchronous condenser)
• 1 x 110 MW coal-fired unit.
• 2 x 120 MW Alstom natural gas units (installed in 2002).