Natural gas is considered one of the least carbon dioxide emitting fossil fuel options available for electric power generation. Through subsidiaries, ENMAX Energy Corporation owns the Crossfield Energy Centre just southeast of the Town of Crossfield; and the Calgary Energy Centre on the northern boundary of the City of Calgary.
We’re thinking big to provide power for a better tomorrow: the Shepard Energy Centre generation facility built in southeast Calgary provides enough electricity for about half of Calgary's current energy requirements.
More efficient generation
The use of combined-cycle technology – currently in use at the Calgary Energy Centre and also the technology that will be used at the Shepard Energy Centre – increases the input energy efficiency by about 30 per cent over a state-of-the-art supercritical coal plant.
In these types of generating facilities, there is a gas turbine and a steam unit, all in one. The gas turbine operates in much the same way as a normal gas turbine, using the hot gases released from burning natural gas to turn a turbine and generate electricity. In combined-cycle plants, the waste heat from the gas-turbine process is directed toward generating steam, which is then used to generate electricity.