CCS Project Database
Company/Alliance: Enhance Energy Inc.
Location: Alberta’s Industrial Heartland near the Redwater town site to declining oil fields in Central Alberta, Canada
Start Date: Engineering underway; Operations to begin in early 2017
Size: 0.3-0.6 (Fertilizer) 1.2-1.4 (Refinery) Up to 14.6 Mt/yr at full capacity
CO2 Source: Initial Sources are from the North West Sturgeon Refinery and Agrium Fertilizer Plant, both northeast of Edmonton, Alberta.
Transportation: Enhance will build a 240 km, 16” Trunk line to carry the CO2 to the injection site(s)
Storage: The CO2 will be injected into the Clive oil reservoir for EOR production and ultimate permanent storage
Motivation/Economics:
To increase oil production through EOR activities and to permanently store up to 15 Mt of CO2 per year. Total project costs (including operating) are projected to be $1.2 billion; both the Canadian Federal Government ($63 million) and the Alberta Government ($495 million) have pledged to provide funding over 15 years. The benefits of royalties, taxes, job creation and a lasting CCS infrastructure will significantly outweigh all project costs.
Comments:
Enhance Energy Inc, located in Alberta Canada, specializes in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and CCS. Enhance Energy Inc along with its partner North West Redwater Partnership Sturgeon Refinery has developed a fully integrated CCS project incorporating gasification, CO2 capture, transportation, storage and EOR. The project utilizes proven technology to provide critical CO2 gathering and distribution infrastructure which will enable the cost-effective management of CO2 emissions in Alberta, Canada. The project also demonstrates how Alberta’s vast bitumen resources can be produced amid tightening environmental standards.
At the heart of the proposed project is the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (“ACTL”), a 16”, 240 km pipeline. Laterals have been designed to allow for multiple entry points and will collect CO2 from emitters such as coal fired power plants, upgrading/refining operations, petrochemicals and natural gas processing plants in and around Alberta’s Industrial Heartland and transport it to aging reservoirs in southern Alberta for storage in EOR projects. The ACTL will be able to access reservoirs which are capable of storing over 2 billion tons of CO2 and producing an additional 1 billion barrels of high quality light crude oil using CO2 EOR. The ACTL will be fully operational in 2015.
The ACTL project will have initially two CO2 suppliers and will hopefully expand to include other facilities. Agrium fertilizer manufacturing facility is located in Redwater, Alberta. ACTL will capture 0.3- 0.6 Mt/yr of CO2 from here.
The North West Redwater Partnership is also located in Redwater Alberta. This is a bitumen refinery using gasification technology. ACTL will capture 1.2-1.4 Mt/Yr from this Refinery. The full capacity of the ACTL is 14.6 million tons/year of CO2.
Project Link: Alberta Carbon Trunk Line Web Page
Other Sources and Press Releases:
Budget 2014 advances Alberta’s carbon capture projects (April 2014)
Latest GCCSI reports on North West Sturgeon Refinery Project and Project Pioneer (April 2013)
The Alberta Carbon Trunk Line Factsheet [PDF]
Bitumen refinery agreement promotes value-added development (February 2011)
CCS Funding Agreement: The Alberta Trunk Line Project (September 2010)
Alberta Carbon Trunk Line Receives Significant Funding Boost (November 2009)
New pipeline will enhance carbon capture and storage (November 2009)
Government moves forward on carbon capture projects (June 2009)
