Environmentalists are applauding the possible closure of the Coleson Cove Generating Station as an outcome of the proposed deal to sell NB Power to Hydro-Québec. (CBC)

Environmentalists are applauding the potential closure of the Coleson Cove Generating Station as a likely outcome of the proposed sale of NB Power to Hydro-Québec.

Under the proposed agreement, Hydro-Québec would purchase a majority of NB Power's assets for $4.8 billion, which would erase the public utility's debt.

However, Hydro-Québec would not take over the thermal generating stations in Dalhousie, Belledune and Coleson Cove.

Premier Shawn Graham announced on Thursday that the Dalhousie station would be shuttered next year, and environmentalists are not giving Coleson Cove, the province's largest thermal generating station, a long life expectancy.

Under the proposed agreement, New Brunswick would continue to own and operate Coleson Cove and Belledune and sell the power to Hydro-Québec. However, Hydro-Québec could choose not to buy power from the power plants with a year's notice, which would cause their closure.

David Coon, the policy director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, said Coleson Cove is hanging like an albatross around the necks of New Brunswickers.

"It's a real, real problem, and, of course, it also has huge greenhouse gas emissions if it's run very much," Coon said.

"So it is no surprise that [Hydro-Québec's] intent is to phase it out."

Coon said officials from NB Power and the New Brunswick government made it clear that it is their intent to phase out the station, which employs 125 people, in four or five years.

Gordon Dalzell, a member of the Saint John Clean Air Coalition, said power generation in the future will likely come entirely from nuclear, hydro or wind.

He said it was good news for Saint John not to have the oil-fired Coleson Cove operate close to the city.

"I think that the days of being an active air quality advocate are going to be kind of quiet, quite frankly, because remember some of the biggest polluting sources in our region and in New Brunswick have been thermal power plants," he said.

Recently refurbished

Coleson Cove recently underwent a $747-million refurbishment to burn Orimulsion, a cheap water-and-bitumen fuel that is produced only in Venezuela.

However, after the Venezuelan government refused to honour the supply agreement, the station has been burning expensive fuel oil.

NB Power has been experimenting with burning a mixture of fuel oil and petroleum coke at Coleson Cove to defray some of the fuel costs. Coleson Cove is so expensive to operate that NB Power often idles the plant when it is cheaper to purchase power from outside the province.

Coon said he supports the proposed deal to sell NB Power because it will free up resources to work on renewable sources of electricity such as wind power for export.

He said it will also allow the province to meet its greenhouse gas emission objectives, because high-polluting thermal stations will be closed in favour of importing clean hydro power from Quebec.