Reduction of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Coal-fired Generation of Electricity Regulations (SOR/2012-167)

Overview

Marginal note:Purpose

• 1 (1) These Regulations establish a regime for the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions that result from the production of electricity by means of thermal energy using coal as a fuel, whether in conjunction with other fuels or not.

• Marginal note:Contents

  (2) These Regulations are divided into four Parts as follows:

  • (a) Part 1 sets out a performance standard for the intensity of CO₂ emissions from regulated units and provides for exceptions based on the substitution of units and for temporary exemptions in relation to emergencies and units integrated with carbon capture and storage systems;

  • (b) Part 2 sets out requirements for the reporting, sending, recording and retention of information;

  • (c) Part 3 sets out quantification rules for determining the intensity of CO₂ emissions from regulated units; and

  • (d) Part 4 provides dates for the coming into force of these Regulations and, in particular, delays the coming into force of the performance standard in respect of standby units until January 1, 2030.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) The following definitions apply in these Regulations.

  Act

  Act means the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. (Loi)

  ASTM

  ASTM means ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials. (ASTM)

  auditor

  auditor means a person who

  • (a) is independent of the responsible person who is to be audited; and

  • (b) has demonstrated knowledge of and experience in

    • (i) the certification, operation and relative accuracy test audit (RATA) of continuous emission monitoring systems, and

    • (ii) quality assurance and quality control procedures in relation to those systems. (vérificateur)

  authorized official

  authorized official means

  • (a) in respect of a responsible person that is a corporation, an officer of the corporation who is authorized to act on its behalf;

  • (b) in respect of a responsible person that is an individual, that person or a person authorized to act on that individual’s behalf; and

  • (c) in respect of a responsible person that is another entity, a person authorized to act on that other entity’s behalf. (agent autorisé)

  biomass

  biomass means a fuel that consists only of non-fossilized, biodegradable organic material that originates from plants or animals but does not come from a geological formation, and includes gases and liquids recovered from organic waste. (biomasse)

  calendar year

  calendar year[Repealed, SOR/2018-263, s. 1]

  capacity factor

  capacity factor, in respect of a unit in a calendar year, means the ratio of the quantity of electricity referred to in section 19 that is produced by the unit to the quantity of electricity that would be produced by the unit in the calendar year if it were to operate at its production capacity at all times during the calendar year. (facteur de capacité)

  coal

  coal includes petroleum coke and synthetic gas that is derived from coal or petroleum coke. (charbon)

  commissioning date

  commissioning date means

  • (a) for an electricity generator that began producing electricity by means of thermal energy using a fuel other than coal, and not in conjunction with coal, but that was converted into a unit before June 23, 2010, the day on which that generator began to produce electricity for sale to the electric grid using fuel other than coal, and not in conjunction with coal; and

  • (b) in any other case, the day on which a unit begins to produce electricity for sale to the electric grid. (date de mise en service)

  existing unit

  existing unit means a unit that is neither an old unit nor a new unit. (groupe existant)

  fossil fuel

  fossil fuel means a fuel other than biomass. (combustible fossile)

  front end engineering design study

  front end engineering design study means a collection of studies that provide the necessary details to support the carrying out of a construction project for the capture element of a carbon capture and storage system, including

  • (a) technical drawings and documents that describe the capture element in sufficient detail to permit the tendering of a contract for its construction;

  • (b) an estimation of the capital cost of the capture element with a margin of error of ± 20%;

  • (c) a safety review of the capture element;

  • (d) a risk assessment of the carbon capture and storage system, namely an assessment of the risks that may delay or prevent the completion of the construction of the system, including technical, economic, environmental, legal and labour-related risks;

  • (e) a strategy to mitigate those risks; and

  • (f) a detailed plan to carry out the construction of the carbon capture and storage system, including a schedule for the completion of its major steps. (étude d’ingénierie d’avant-projet détaillé)

  gasification system

  gasification system includes a gasification system that is in part located underground. (système de gazéification)

  GPA

  GPA means the Gas Processors Association of the United States. (GPA)

  major equipment

  major equipment means a boiler, gasifier, shift reactor, turbine, air pollution control device, air separation unit, compressor, CO₂ separation system or other equipment that

  • (a) is manufactured in accordance with specifications in its purchase order and takes more than 12 months after the date of the purchase order to be manufactured and delivered; or

  • (b) costs $10,000,000 or more. (équipement majeur)

  new unit

  new unit means a unit, other than an old unit, whose commissioning date is on or after July 1, 2015. (groupe nouveau)

  old unit

  old unit means a unit that has reached the end of its useful life but continues to produce electricity. (groupe en fin de vie utile)

  operator

  operator means the person that operates or has the charge, management or control of a unit. (exploitant)

  power plant

  power plant means all units, buildings and other structures and all stationary equipment — including equipment for the separation and initial pressurization of CO₂ of the capture element of a carbon capture and storage system — on a single site, or on adjacent sites that function as a single integrated site, whose primary purpose is the production of electricity for sale to the electric grid. (centrale électrique)

  production capacity

  production capacity, in relation to a unit and a calendar year, means

  • (a) the maximum continuous rating of the unit, expressed in MW, as most recently reported to a provincial authority of competent jurisdiction or to the electric system operator in the province where the unit is located; or

  • (b) if no report has been made, the most electricity that was produced for sale by the unit, expressed in MW, during two continuous hours in that calendar year. (capacité de production)

  Reference Method

  Reference Method means the document entitled Reference Method for Source Testing: Quantification of Carbon Dioxide Releases by Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems from Thermal Power Generation, June 2012, published by the Department of the Environment. (Méthode de référence)

  responsible person

  responsible person means an owner or operator of a unit. (personne responsable)

  standard m³

  standard m³ has the meaning assigned to a cubic metre at standard pressure and standard temperature by the definition standard volume in subsection 2(1) of the Electricity and Gas Inspection Regulations. (m³ normalisé)

  standby unit

  standby unit means an old unit that, for a given calendar year, operates at a capacity factor of 9% or less. (groupe de réserve)

  unit

  unit means physically connected equipment located in a power plant — including boilers and other combustion devices, gasifiers, reactors, turbines, generators and emission control devices — that operates together to produce electricity by means of thermal energy using coal as a fuel, whether in conjunction with other fuels or not. (groupe)

  useful life

  useful life, in respect of a unit, means the period that begins on the commissioning date and ends on

  • (a) for a unit other than a unit referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition commissioning date,

    • (i) in the case of a unit whose commissioning date is before 1975, the earlier of

      • (A) December 31 of the calendar year that is 50 years after the commissioning date, and

      • (B) December 31, 2019, and

    • (ii) in the case of a unit whose commissioning date is after 1974, the earlier of

      • (A) December 31 of the calendar year that is 50 years after the commissioning date, and

      • (B) December 31, 2029; and

  • (b) for a unit referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition commissioning date, 18 months after the applicable date described in paragraph (a). (vie utile)

• Marginal note:Interpretation of incorporated documents

  (2) For the purposes of interpreting documents incorporated by reference into these Regulations, “should” must be read to mean “must” and any recommendation or suggestion must be read as an obligation.

• Marginal note:Standards incorporated by reference

  (3) Any standard of the ASTM or GPA that is incorporated by reference into these Regulations is incorporated as amended from time to time.

PART 1Regulated Units and Emission Limit

Emission-intensity Limit

Marginal note:Limit — 420t/GWh

• 3 (1) A responsible person for a new unit or an old unit must not, on average, emit with an intensity of more than 420 tonnes CO₂ emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels in the unit for each GWh of electricity produced by the unit during a calendar year.

• Marginal note:Quantification of electricity and emissions

  (2) The quantity of

  • (a) electricity referred to in subsection (1) is to be determined in accordance with section 19; and

  • (b) emissions referred to in subsection (1) are to be determined in accordance with the applicable provisions of sections 20 to 24.

• Marginal note:CO₂ released from sorbent

  (3) The CO₂ emissions released from the use of sorbent to control the emission of sulphur dioxide from a unit are to be included as CO₂ emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels in that unit for the purpose of subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Coal gasification systems

  (4) Emissions from a gasification system that produces synthetic gas derived from coal or petroleum coke that is used as a fuel to produce electricity from a unit referred to in subsection (1) are to be included as emissions from that unit, for the purpose of subsection (1), if that coal gasification system has at least one responsible person in common with that unit.

• Marginal note:CCS excluded

  (5) The CO₂ emissions from a unit referred to in subsection (1) do not include emissions that

  • (a) are captured in accordance with the laws of Canada or a province that regulate that capture;

  • (b) are transported and stored in accordance with the laws of Canada or a province, or of the United States or one of its states, that regulate that transportation or storage, as the case may be; and

  • (c) are not subsequently released into the atmosphere.

• Marginal note:Partial year application

  (6) For greater certainty, if subsection (1) applies in respect of a unit only for a period during a calendar year, that period is considered to be the calendar year for the purpose of that subsection.

Registration

Marginal note:Registration

• 4 (1) A responsible person for a new unit must register the new unit by sending to the Minister, on or before 30 days after its commissioning date, a registration report that contains the information set out in Schedule 1.

• Marginal note:Registration number

  (2) On receipt of the registration report, the Minister must assign a registration number to the unit and inform the responsible person of that registration number.

• Marginal note:Change of information

  (3) If the information provided in the registration report changes or if the unit is decommissioned, the responsible person must, not later than 30 days after the change or decommissioning, send to the Minister a notice that provides the updated information or that indicates the unit has been decommissioned, as the case may be, along with the date of the decommissioning.

Substitution of Units and Deferred Application

Marginal note:Application of subsection 3(1) — substituted units

• 5 (1) For the purpose of subsection 3(1), a responsible person for a unit (referred to in this section as the “original unit”) that reaches the end of its useful life during a calendar year may apply to the Minister to have another unit (referred to in this section as the “substituted unit”) substituted for the original unit if the following conditions are satisfied:

  • (a) the substituted unit is an existing unit;

  • (b) the original unit and the substituted unit have a common owner who has an ownership interest of 50% or more in each of those two units;

  • (c) those two units are located in the same province; and

  • (d) the production capacity of the substituted unit, during the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the application is made, was equal to or greater than the production capacity of the original unit during that preceding calendar year.

• Marginal note:Period of application

  (2) The application must be made in the period that begins on January 1 and that ends on May 31 of the calendar year during which the unit reaches its end of life.

• Marginal note:Content of application

  (3) The application must include the registration number of the original unit and of the substituted unit and information, with supporting documentation, to demonstrate that the conditions of paragraphs (1)(b) to (d) are satisfied.

• Marginal note:Granting of substitution

  (4) The Minister must, within 30 days after receiving the application, grant the substitution if the following conditions are satisfied:

  • (a) the substituted unit is not a shut-down unit referred to in subsection 6(4);

  • (b) the substituted unit is not involved in an exemption granted under subsection 14(4); and

  • (c) the Minister is satisfied that the conditions of paragraphs (1)(a) to (d) are satisfied.

• Marginal note:Effect

  (5) On the granting of the substitution, subsection 3(1) applies in respect of the substituted unit rather than the original unit as of the later of

  • (a) July 1, 2015, and

  • (b) the beginning of the calendar year that follows the calendar year in which the application is made.

• Marginal note:Cessation of effect

  (6) The substitution referred to in subsection (5) ceases to have effect, and subsection 3(1) applies in respect of the original unit, as of the earliest of

  • (a) the calendar year that follows the day on which the responsible person for that unit and the substituted unit sends the Minister a notice indicating that they wish the substitution to no longer have an effect,

  • (b) the calendar year that follows the day on which the condition of paragraph (1)(b) is no longer satisfied,

  • (c) the calendar year that follows a calendar year during which the production capacity of the original unit was more than the production capacity of the substituted unit referred to in paragraph (1)(d),

  • (d) the calendar year that follows the end of the useful life of the substituted unit, and

  • (e) a calendar year during which electricity is produced by the substituted unit by means of thermal energy using fossil fuel other than coal, and not in conjunction with coal.