Or. Admin. Code § 345-024-0550

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 12, December 1, 2024

Section 345-024-0550 - Standard for Base Load Gas Plants

To issue a site certificate for a base load gas plant, the Council must find that the net carbon dioxide emissions rate of the proposed facility does not exceed 0.574 pounds of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour of net electric power output, with carbon dioxide emissions and net electric power output measured on a new and clean basis. For a base load gas plant designed with power augmentation technology as defined in OAR 345-024-0503, the Council shall apply the standard for a non-base load power plant, as described in OAR 345-024-0590, to the incremental carbon dioxide emissions from the designed operation of the power augmentation technology. The Council shall determine whether the base load carbon dioxide emissions standard is met as follows:

(1) The Council shall determine the gross carbon dioxide emissions that are reasonably likely to result from the operation of the proposed energy facility. The Council shall base such determination on the proposed design of the energy facility. The Council shall adopt site certificate conditions to ensure that the predicted carbon dioxide emissions are not exceeded on a new and clean basis.

(2) For any remaining emissions reduction necessary to meet the applicable standard, the applicant may elect to use any of the means described in OAR 345-024-0560, or any combination thereof. The Council shall determine the amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions reduction that is reasonably likely to result from the applicant's offsets and whether the resulting net carbon dioxide emissions meet the applicable carbon dioxide emissions standard. The amount of greenhouse gas emissions means the pounds of carbon dioxide and the carbon dioxide equivalent of other greenhouse gases. For methane, one pound of methane is equivalent to 25 pounds of carbon dioxide. For nitrous oxide, one pound of nitrous oxide is equivalent to 298 pounds of carbon dioxide.

(3) If the applicant elects to comply with the standard using the means described in OAR 345-024-0560(2), the Council shall determine the amount of greenhouse gas emissions reduction that is reasonably likely to result from each of the proposed offsets. In making this determination, the Council shall not allow credit for offsets that have already been allocated or awarded credit for greenhouse gas emissions reduction in another regulatory setting. The fact that an applicant or other parties involved with an offset may derive benefits from the offset other than the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is not, by itself, a basis for withholding credit for an offset. The Council shall base its determination of the amount of greenhouse gas emission reduction on the following criteria and as provided in OAR 345-024-0680:

(a) The degree of certainty that the predicted quantity of greenhouse gas emissions reduction will be achieved by the offset.

(b) The ability of the Council to determine the actual quantity of greenhouse gas emissions reduction resulting from the offset, taking into consideration any proposed measurement, monitoring and evaluation of mitigation measure performance.

(c) The extent to which the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions would occur in the absence of the offsets.

(4) Before beginning construction, the certificate holder shall notify the Department of Energy in writing of its final selection of a gas turbine vendor and shall submit a written design information report to the Department sufficient to verify the facility's designed new and clean heat rate and its nominal electric generating capacity at average annual site conditions for each fuel type. In the report, the certificate holder shall include the proposed limits on the annual average number of hours of facility operation on distillate fuel oil, if applicable. In the site certificate, the Council may specify other information to be included in the report. The Department shall use the information the certificate holder provides in the report as the basis for calculating, according to the site certificate, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions reductions the certificate holder must provide under OAR 345-024-0560.

Or. Admin. Code § 345-024-0550

EFSC 2-1999, f. & cert. ef. 4-14-99; EFSC 1-2000, f. & cert. ef. 2-2-00; EFSC 1-2003, f. & cert. ef. 9-3-03; EFSC 1-2007, f. & cert. ef. 5-15-07; EFSC 1-2012, f. & cert. ef. 5-15-12; EFCS 2-2013, f. & cert. ef. 9-30-13; EFSC 1-2018, amend filed 07/18/2018, effective 7/18/2018; EFSC 1-2022, amend filed 07/25/2022, effective 7/25/2022

Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 469.470, ORS 469.501 & ORS 469.503

Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 469.501 & ORS 469.503