The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[random11]

I am aware that WestJet decided not to run flights out of Saint John this winter however, they are scheduled to start again on May 15th and continue through until October 30 this year. Odd thing is, when you try and book dates in this window from the WestJet website, all travel dates from May 15th - October 30th are blacked out. Could be nothing, but if WestJet doesn't return to the local airport this summer it will definitely hurt the local airport.

[Ottawa]

Originally Posted by random11

I am aware that WestJet decided not to run flights out of Saint John this winter however, they are scheduled to start again on May 15th and continue through until October 30 this year. Odd thing is, when you try and book dates in this window from the WestJet website, all travel dates from May 15th - October 30th are blacked out. Could be nothing, but if WestJet doesn't return to the local airport this summer it will definitely hurt the local airport.

I wouldn't be too concerned about that yet. Saint John is on the route map and on the destination list. It is likely just an oversight by the programmers.

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by SJuser

Anyone know what the major Irving Oil announcement planned for tomorrow is? (it's not the 2nd refinery )

I got a notice of an announcement with Shawn Graham, Jack Keir and the Maine Governor for today, are they the same perhaps?

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Originally Posted by SJuser

Anyone know what the major Irving Oil announcement planned for tomorrow is? (it's not the 2nd refinery )

I wonder if it relates to tidal power. Hopefully it's not just "the LNG pipeline is ready to flow."

[kwajo]

Sounds like it isn't far from that.

Liberal MLA from Fundy-River Valley said an energy-related project would be announced in Saint John today.

"You'll hear about it tomorrow," Keir said. "It's going to be a wonderful announcement."

When pressed for details, Keir would only add that it was not the announcement of a second nuclear reactor at Point Lepreau.

Later Tuesday, it was confirmed that Premier Shawn Graham and Maine Governor John E. Baldacci would be joined by Keir and Jeff Matthews of Irving Oil Ltd. today at 9 a.m. at the Delta to announce plans to create the Northeast Energy Corridor. The announcement will push the state and province closer to creating an energy "highway" between the two jurisdictions. The goal is to have electricity, natural gas and petroleum products flow more easily from New Brunswick down into the U.S. market.

According to a government source, the Corridor agreement will ensure transmission projects, like those involving power lines and pipelines, are bundled together to avoid numerous environmental impact assessments. The agreement is also intended to encourage energy projects in Saint John.

Irving Oil is also expected to announce the launch of a significant energy project at the event. No further details are available.

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/614221

So I guess the IOL announcement is related, but separate. I hope it is something like tidal or wind power, I'd hate to see an announcement of a third refinery lol

[fundygal]

Irving Looking Into Building Power Plant

March 25, 2009 - 8:43 am
By: News 88-9 staff

SAINT JOHN, N.B. - Irving Oil will look into the feasibility of building a power plant with the intent of exporting up to 1,500 megawatts of electricity to the U.S.

New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham and Maine Governor John Baldacci also say the creation of an energy corridor across the border should attract investment in clean, renewable power.

The Irving power plant would run on wind and natural gas.

The project hinges on the creation of a new transmission line from New Brunswick into the New England States.

New Brunswick Energy minister Jack Keir says today's announcement
is another step towards positioning the province and Maine as an energy hub.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Originally Posted by fundygal

Irving Looking Into Building Power Plant

March 25, 2009 - 8:43 am
By: News 88-9 staff

SAINT JOHN, N.B. - Irving Oil will look into the feasibility of building a power plant with the intent of exporting up to 1,500 megawatts of electricity to the U.S.

Having no idea what 1,500 MW means I called my father who is an engineer who has worked for NB Power. It is his understanding that LePreau is 600 MW. This is a pretty big deal.

[kwajo]

Just got some details myself, the plan is for a large wind power plant with a cogenerative natural gas plant on the Canaport site to level-out the ups and downs of wind cycles (it's a pretty common practice, but I was hoping they would use Tidal power to provide that same levelling effect).

So there you go, another massive project for Saint John even in this time of economic recession. Go Port City!

[magee_b]

that would be a LOT of wind turbines

[thefishingnut]

Originally Posted by magee_b

that would be a LOT of wind turbines

I believe the largest state-of-the-art wind turbine is 5 MW. You're right, this could be a lot of turbines...

[kwajo]

There is probably some confusion on the numbers, the 1,500 MW number could be the peak generation of both the wind farm and the natural gas plant combined, I seriously doubt that they're putting together 1,500 MW of wind power alone. For comparison, the Kent Hill project is 96 MW.

EDIT: It is the transmission line that will be 1,500 MW, the natural gas plant will be 500-600 MW and they haven't specified the exact generative abilities of the Wind farm but it will be very large. I also just realized that if they want to put generation plants out near Canaport, and lay a massive new transmission line, then they're probably going to want to run them through the cut line in Rockwood Park, which will likely mean another set of very vocal complaints like those from the pipeline debacle.

[Helladog]

I was thinking this announcement thing was going to be a bunch of hoopla, but a good announcement considering the power plant.

Now lets have an announcement one of these megaprojets is starting construction.

[Helladog]

Saint John power plant part of energy corridor
March 25, 2009 - 11:34 am
By: Jeff Lansing News 88.9 Staff

SAINT JOHN - Irving Oil is exploring the possibility of building a natural-gas-fired power plant in Saint John.

It's part of a plan to develop an energy corridor between New Brunswick and Maine.

The partnership is intended to ease the flow of energy between the state and province.

Maine Governor John Baldacci made the announcement with Premier Shawn Graham.

He says the corridor will include electricity, wind generation, and a natural-gas-fired co-generation plant.

"Maine and New Brunswick working together have much to offer," Baldacci said. "We have a chance to become a driving force in a new energy future built on cleaner renewable sources of power."

Enterprise Saint John Chair Bob Manning praises the agreement for its emphasis on renewable energy.

"The huge resource that we've got in the province right now is tidal and wind," said Manning. "It's an untapped renewable energy source."

The power plant would likely be located on the existing Canaport LNG site.

Baldacci says the corridor could lead to 2 billion dollars in private investment, and tens of millions of dollars of revenue for both Maine and New Brunswick.

[Helladog]

For those who don't know what co-generation is, a combustor burns natural gas and spins the turbine (similar in principle to an jet engine) which is connected to a generator which produces electricity. This system is traditionally unefficient on it's own, since much of the energy is used to compress air to feed the combustor.

By sending the hot exhaust into a boiler setting, steam can be produced, which in turn is used to turn a traditional steam turbine which is also connected to a generator which produces electricity.

Coupled, the two generators are able to reach efficiencies much higher than coal fired plants. Additionally, natural gas is mostly pollution free, except for some NO, and NO2, which is minimized by the design of the system.

Bayside power consists of this type of system, but is much smaller than 1500MW.


Source: Pan Global Systems

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by Helladog

Bayside power consists of this type of system, but is much smaller than 1500MW.

I was kind of figuring that this new plant would be the final nail in the coffin for Bayside, but that's purely speculation on my part.

[michael_d40]

Pics of the Police Station.....

[PersonPlaceorThing]

The paper today had an article about how much more effecient that new cop shop will be. If this is the case I hope their annual budget can be slashed once the new station is up and running.

[thefishingnut]

Originally Posted by PersonPlaceorThing

The paper today had an article about how much more effecient that new cop shop will be. If this is the case I hope their annual budget can be slashed once the new station is up and running.

Or maybe use the savings to refocus and clean up the drugs and violence which has driven people out of areas like the south end.

Saving money is easy. Building a city people want to live in needs to be the objective.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Originally Posted by thefishingnut

Or maybe use the savings to refocus and clean up the drugs and violence which has driven people out of areas like the south end.

Saving money is easy. Building a city people want to live in needs to be the objective.

I guess I'm too bohemian; the south end in its current form drew me in. I think as a city and community we would be able to better address social woes through compassion (and funding social programs) than through policing.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

I noticed yesturday while driving through the rifle range that the Portland United Church's new housing complex is well underway. I'll go take a picture this evening.