Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a strong supporter of the development of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology because Saskatchewan’s circumstances mean that the technology can provide significant economic and environmental benefits.  The International Energy Agency has estimated that, in 2009, all CCS projects worldwide stored 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) per year.  Of this total, over 46% is being stored in Saskatchewan at the Weyburn and Midale fields.

Saskatchewan Petroleum Research Incentive

The Saskatchewan Petroleum Research Incentive is intended to encourage research, development and demonstration of new technologies that facilitate the expanded production of Saskatchewan's oil and natural gas resources.  The Incentive is given in the form of royalty credits as 30% of eligible research expenses, up to $3 million per project.

Saskatchewan Carbon Dioxide Enhanced Oil Recovery (CO2-EOR) and Storage Initiative

The Government of Saskatchewan has committed $7.2 million over 5 years to encourage industry to purchase CO₂ from SaskPower to undertake CO₂-EOR projects in southeast Saskatchewan.  The Government of Saskatchewan will share costs incurred by industry to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of using CO₂ in their reservoirs.  The Petroleum Technology Research Centre is developing a joint project with industry to evaluate the feasibility of using CO₂ to enhance oil recovery from the Bakken formation.

The Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Industry Upstream Emission Reduction Initiative

The upstream oil and gas sector (including exploration, drilling, production, gathering, and basic processing of crude oil and natural gas) produces over a quarter of Saskatchewan's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To meet Saskatchewan’s emission reduction targets, the Government of Saskatchewan has begun a joint review with industry in developing technological opportunities to reduce GHG emissions. Saskatchewan will contribute up to $300,000 to support one or two large projects in Saskatchewan per year with industry. In addition, Saskatchewan will also provide up to an additional $100,000 per year as the provincial contribution to smaller oil and gas industry emission reductions projects in Saskatchewan.

For more information on the Government of Saskatchewan's Oil & Gas Incentives and Initiatives, please visit their website.

Weyburn Carbon Dioxide Enhanced Oil Recovery Project:

Cenovus Energy has spent $1.1 billion on Saskatchewan’s first commercial scale carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery project and continues to invest additional funds in the project.  The project will produce 200 million incremental barrels of oil and as of November 2009, 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide has been stored at Weyburn since injection began.  Carbon dioxide is being stored at the rate of 6,500 tonnes per day.  Oil production has increased by 60% as a result of the project. 

Cenovus Energy purchases carbon dioxide that otherwise would be emitted by a coal gasification plant in North Dakota.  The carbon dioxide is shipped through a 320 kilometre pipeline which crosses the Canada-US border and is regulated by Canada’s National Energy Board. 

The project is a significant technical and economic success which simultaneously enhances oil production and stores carbon dioxide.  The project offsets the greenhouse gas emissions from 510,000 vehicles.  The project provides large climate change benefits combined with economic development benefits at little expense to government.

Midale Carbon Dioxide Enhanced Oil Recovery Project:

The first carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery injection in Saskatchewan began in 1984 as a pilot project in the Midale reservoir.  This initial small project was expanded in 1992 and continued until 1999 when it was shut down.  However, since 2005 the Midale reservoir has been the site of Saskatchewan second commercial carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery project.

Apache Canada will spend $760 million over the lifetime of the project to produce 67 million barrels of incremental oil and store 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by the end of the project.  As of November 2009, 1.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide has been stored at Midale since injection began in fall of 2005.  Carbon dioxide is being stored at the rate of 1,165 tonnes per day.  The project offsets the greenhouse gas emissions from all the homes in Regina.  The Weyburn and Midale Projects combined offset the greenhouse gas emissions from all the homes in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

International Energy Agency (IEA) Greenhouse Gas Weyburn-Midale Carbon Dioxide Monitoring and Storage Project:

The world’s largest monitored CO₂ geological storage project is being undertaken  to monitor the carbon dioxide being stored by Cenovus Energy and Apache at their commercial enhanced oil recovery projects.  Total cash expenditures during the two phases of the project will total approximately $33.5 million with “in kind” contributions increasing the total to $80 million.  This major, world class scientific research work provides the scientific evidence supporting the safety of long term geological storage of carbon dioxide in Weyburn and for geological storage projects around the world. 

The project is improving understanding of geological sequestration of carbon dioxide, the mechanisms of sequestration, and the degree to which carbon dioxide can be permanently sequestered or stored in geological formations.  The information provided by the project will assist in selecting other appropriate carbon dioxide storage sites and in designing and implementing successful carbon dioxide sequestration or storage projects throughout the world. 

The project is providing a credible assessment of the permanent containment of injected carbon dioxide through the use of long-term predictive simulations and formal risk analysis techniques.  The results of the initial phase of the IEA Weyburn-Midale Carbon Dioxide Monitoring and Storage Project indicate that the injected carbon dioxide will remain in the Weyburn reservoir for at least several thousand years. 

Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Sequestration Project:

Under this proposed project, Unit 3 of SaskPower’s Boundary Dam coal fired electricity generating station will be retrofitted and 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year will be captured and used for enhanced oil recovery.  The total cost of the project will be $1.4 billion.  Of this amount, SaskPower will spend $758 million, the Government of Canada has committed up to $240 million and the enhanced oil recovery activity to be undertaken by the petroleum industry will cost another $400 million. 

Unit 3 will produce at least 110 megawatts of clean base load electricity while enhancing provincial oil production and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  Unit 3 will provide enough electricity to meet the needs of more than 100,000 homes.  The carbon dioxide capture system for the project will be provided by SNC Lavalin-Cansolv.  SaskPower is negotiating carbon dioxide sales with several oil producers.  

SaskPower has announced it will invest $354 million to extend the life of Unit 3 for 30 years.  Boundary Dam 3 will be rebuilt with a state-of-the-art Hitachi turbine custom-designed for carbon capture systems.  Work on the major components of the plant will begin in 2011, with construction scheduled to start in 2012.  Operations are expected to commence in the fall of 2013. 

SaskPower will continue with technical work on the integrated carbon capture and storage system proposed for Unit 3.  SaskPower will defer a final decision on construction of the integrated carbon capture and storage system until the new federal thermal coal power generation emissions control regulations are completed.

Aquistore Project:

The Aquistore Project is an integrated carbon capture, transport and storage project that is looking to take CO₂ captured from a set point source and transport it along a dedicated pipeline to an injection site currently being considered. The project is a collaborative research venture between governments and industry, and has received 5 million dollars in funding from both Sustainable Development Technology Canada and Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment Go Green Fund. The target saline formation currently under consideration for injection is 2200 metres underground.  The CO₂ storage will be monitored, measured and verified through various innovative technologies.  The learnings from this project, which is expected to begin injection of CO₂ in 2013, before any other deep saline injection project in Canada, will help other projects achieve their goals.

Husky Mervin CO₂-EOR Project:

Husky is currently conducting two carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery projects (CO2 – EOR) in heavy oil reservoirs in Mervin, Saskatchewan. One scenario is investigating Huff & Puff injection and the other scenario is investigating flood injection.  The Province of Saskatchewan has approved $6 million in royalty credits to the projects under the Saskatchewan Petroleum Research Incentive.  This will be the first known use of CO2 in a heavy oil reservoir.

Saskatchewan Demonstration Facility Project:

This project involves expenditures of roughly $270 million.  Saskatchewan has committed $50 million and is seeking $100 million from the Government of Canada (decision to be made in 2010).  The balance of the investment is being sought from industry and other sources. SaskPower will create a test facility at Shand coal fired electricity generating station for multiple amine based carbon dioxide capture technologies. The key role of the project is to bring competing technologies to the marketplace. The facility is expected to capture 600 tonnes of CO₂   per day from a 300 MW coal-fired unit for sequestration. A number of amine technology companies have expressed significant interest in the test facility.  

Husky CO2 – EOR Projects in Lloydminster area:  

Built upon the knowledge learned from Mervin CO₂-EOR pilot, Husky will be conducting two more CO₂-EOR projects in heavy oil reservoirs in Tangleflags and Lashburn, Saskatchewan.  In addition, Husky is looking to capture approximately 100,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year (roughly 250 tonnes/day) from Husky’s ethanol plant and utilize this CO₂ in various projects throughout the Lloydminster area. The Government of Canada will contribute $4 million under the ecoEnergy Technology Initiative to the field pilots and reservoir/process investigations.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has indicated that carbon dioxide capture technology may provide almost half of all emission reductions necessary to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions in the world over this century.  Saskatchewan is taking a leading world role in developing this critical technology at the Petroleum Technology Research Centre, the International Test Centre for Carbon Dioxide Capture, and the International Performance Assessment Centre for Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide (IPAC – CO₂).  All three of these organizations are located in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC)

Only 15% of Saskatchewan’s sizeable oil reserves are recoverable with current technology.  Technology is the key that will enable Saskatchewan to grow its petroleum industry by accessing more of the 85% of our oil resource that currently cannot be recovered.  The Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) was established by the Government of Canada and the Government of Saskatchewan to work with industry to develop the next generation of oil production technology to access the 30 billion barrels of our oil resource that current techniques cannot access. 

One of the major initiatives of the PTRC is the International Energy Agency (IEA) Greenhouse Gas Weyburn-Midale Carbon Dioxide Monitoring and Storage Project which is studying the use of carbon dioxide by Cenovus Energy to increase oil production in southeast Saskatchewan.  The IEA Weyburn-Midale Project is studying Cenovus Energy’s enhanced oil recovery project to predict and verify the ability of an oil reservoir to securely and economically store carbon dioxide. 

The PTRC (and the International Performance Assessment Centre for Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide (IPAC ‑ CO2) at the University of Regina) may provide consulting services for future similar sequestration projects in other countries.

The PTRC is also working on the Aquistore Project (deep saline aquifer storage) and the SOLVE Project (steam/solvent co-injection in oilsands with lower greenhouse gas emissions) as well as various carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery initiatives. 

For more information on the PTRC please visit their website:  http://www.ptrc.ca/

International Test Centre (ITC) for Carbon Dioxide Capture 

Carbon dioxide capture and storage technology is attracting significant attention nationally and internationally.  There is an urgent need to develop and evaluate technologies to capture the carbon dioxide from existing fossil fuel fired electricity generating facilities because of the widespread dependence on such facilities throughout the world.  It is likely that, despite greenhouse gas concerns, coal will remain a major contributor to electricity generation for decades due to its distribution, abundance, and low, stable prices.  This means it is particularly important to develop new technologies to address the emissions from coal-fired electricity generation facilities.

Previous federal-provincial economic analysis indicated that one of the most economic methods of eliminating large quantities of carbon dioxide emissions in Canada was to obtain carbon dioxide from large coal-fired electricity facilities and store it underground in producing oil reservoirs.

The large volume of carbon dioxide required for injection into oil reservoirs in Saskatchewan could be obtained from nearby coal-fired electricity generation stations using carbon dioxide separation technology being developed by the International Test Centre (ITC) for Carbon Dioxide Capture at the University of Regina. 

The ITC is a $14 million facility which was established in 1999 at the U of R to develop amine-based technologies to capture carbon dioxide from flue gases from large industrial facilities such as refineries or coal-fired electrical generating stations.  ITC has developed world class post combustion carbon dioxide capture technology using amines. 

ITC is working to reduce the cost of these technologies to ensure that they are cost competitive with other emission reduction technologies and that captured carbon dioxide is cheap enough to be used for industrial purposes such as enhanced oil recovery.  The ITC’s research has attracted significant industry sponsorship from around the world and has achieved significant reductions in the cost of separating carbon dioxide from the flue gases of electricity generation stations.

For more information on the ITC please visit their website:  http://www.co2-research.ca/

International Performance Assessment Centre for Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide (IPAC ‑ CO₂)

For CCS to play an important role in the reduction of CO₂ emissions, it is essential to ensure the approach is safe, effective and can be done at an industrial scale.  IPAC-CO₂ at the University of Regina will link organizations and experts into a worldwide network, committed to reducing the risk and reaching the potential of the geological storage of CO₂. 

As an independent, non-aligned organization, IPAC-CO₂ assesses and advises on CCS projects around the world.  In addition to evaluating performance and risk issues, and assessing proposed projects, IPAC-CO₂ will:

• Network internationally to share and build on the findings of other academic and public organizations and institutions with CCS expertise;
• Interact with key stakeholders to identify emerging issues and ensure effective and acceptable risk assessment techniques are developed, applied and communicated;
• Create communications to inform the public and build broad acceptance of CCS;
• Develop a pool of qualified personnel in the areas of performance and risk assessment.

IPAC-CO₂ will contribute to international capacity building in CCS.  IPAC-CO₂ will provide and further develop the technical expertise that underpins the policies and regulations required for the large-scale deployment of CCS. 

IPAC-CO₂ will help establish CCS as an internationally recognized method of climate change mitigation and as a universally accepted emission reduction compliance option in domestic and international greenhouse gas regulatory frameworks. 

IPAC-CO₂ will assist governments, industry and the financial sector from around the world to assess CCS projects proposed by industry to determine if the projects should be approved or if conditions should be imposed before the projects are allowed to proceed. 

Shell Canada and the Province of Saskatchewan are each providing $5 million over 5 years to this facility.  Western Economic Diversification Canada is providing $4 million.  IPAC-CO₂ expects to receive additional support from other contributions and contracts with industry and governments.

For more information on IPAC please visit their website: 
http://www.ipac-co2.com

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updated April 2010

on this page ....

• Current CCS Projects
• Planned CCS Projects
• Saskatchewan CCS Organizations
• Related Links

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