CCS proposals offer significant emission reductions

EPCOR Utilities Inc. and Enbridge Inc. are jointly submitting two projects that each have the potential to meet nearly one-quarter of the provincial government's carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction target. Full project proposals are being submitted for funding from the Alberta Government's $2 billion carbon capture and storage (CCS) program under the climate change action plan.

"The CCS Fund has kick-started industry to work together to find technological solutions to provide a cleaner energy future," said EPCOR Executive Vice-President Brian Vaasjo. "We have been working with our partners and we believe our proposals can deliver on the goals the province has established."

"In 2008, the Alberta government committed to reducing CO2 emissions by 200 megatonnes by 2050," said Enbridge Senior Vice President, New Ventures, Jim Schultz. "Through projects like ours, we can thoroughly test our technology, share our knowledge with the industry, and help the Alberta government meet its target."

The two projects are designed to provide cleaner electricity from both existing and new electricity plants, with captured CO2 piped offsite and used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) or stored underground in saline aquifers.

The proposals include North America's first project combining an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) commercial-scale near-zero-emission thermal power plant with carbon capture, compression and storage (CCS). The Genesee IGCC CCS project has the potential to capture more than 3,300 tonnes per day or 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

The other proposal is for a post-combustion facility designed to capture CO2 emissions on conventional power plants. The Genesee Amine CCS project would use an amine scrubbing process to remove CO2 emissions from the flue gas of the facility. This project would be designed to capture 3,000 tonnes of CO2 per day, or nearly one million tonnes a year.

Enbridge and the Alberta Saline Aquifer Project (ASAP) would be responsible for transporting captured CO2 from the Genesee site for use in enhanced oil recovery or permanent storage in deep saline aquifers.

The province will review the proposals and is expected to release their funding decisions in the next three months.