EDMONTON – Edmonton’s skyline is about to change as early as Friday, when the three tall stacks at the former Epcor high-pressure, natural gas-fired power plant are taken down.
The modern white square box plant has no historical significance, unlike the turn-of-the-century low pressure brick plant next door with its seven small stacks. All the turbines, boilers and generators were removed from that plant in the early 1990s before it was declared a historic resource.
Discussions are still underway about how best to use Edmonton’s original power plant, once fuelled by coal. The high-pressure plant was decommissioned in 2009, after being ordered to remain as a standby plant for three years by the province’s electrical regulator.
“It was off-line but had to be on call as a backup. However, that never happened,” said Epcor Utilities spokesman Tim le Riche.
Decommissioning and demolition of the high-pressure plant will continue through 2011. The plant’s fence line will be moved back, and land turned into a green space along the river bank, improving access to walking trails.
There is a proposal to build a new bridge through some of this area to replace the old Walterdale span, which is immediately upstream.
Le Riche said while crews are preparing to remove the stacks and have a crane ready to do the work, the whole process could take weeks.
“We have no timetable, it could start Friday but it could also be in a few weeks. It is all up the weather. The demolition contractor will decide the timing.”
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