Significant CO2 Sequestration Project Is Announced

admin — Sun, 24 May 2009 04:41:20 +0000

Montana and Saskatchewan agree to work together on the development on what may be the largest international carbon capture and storage demonstration projects in the world. Montana and Saskatchewan are collaborating to construct a world class carbon sequestration project. The Governor of Montana and the Premier of Saskatchewan signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create the carbon capture project.

Under the MOU, the Saskatchewan-Montana partnership will construct a technology-neutral CO2 capture plant at an existing coal-fired electrical generating station in Saskatchewan. A CO2 storage facility will be constructed in eastern Montana that includes the CO2 injection infrastructure and the capability of removing the CO2 for enhanced oil recovery. A pipeline between Saskatchewan and Montana will be constructed for the transportation of CO2 from the plant in Saskatchewan to the storage facility in Montana.

In addition, training facilities to meet the needs of a growing CCS industry and regulators will be created at the University of Regina and Montana State University.

The estimated of the total cost of the project in is $270 million Canadian. On the Canadian side, it is approximately $150 million to design and build the CO2 reference plant, related CO2 pipeline infrastructure and a North American training facility for CCS technicians.

The Government of Saskatchewan will provide up to $50 million through Crown Investments Corporation and has requested funding of $100 million from the federal government through its Clean Energy Fund.

The State of Montana has requested $100 million (US) from the Government of the United States through the Department of Energy to support construction of a CO2 pipeline on the U.S. side of the border and development of the underground CO2 storage and research in the infrastructure in Montana.

The development phase is scheduled to be complete by August 31, 2009, including a full project plan, engineering design, business plan, detailed budget and construction timeline. With the financial support of the Governments of Canada and the United States, construction of the plant could begin as early as September 2009 and the plant could be operational as early as the summer of 2011. The goal for the first CO2 source plant is to test a range of technologies in the capture of up to one million tonnes of CO2 over a four-year period. The project will help Saskatchewan meet it’s target of reducing green house gases (GHGs).

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Significant CO2 Sequestration Project Is Announced