SaskPower unveils its first CCS project in Canada

The new addition will combine post combustion CCS with coal fired power and help Boundary Dam to produce clean energy with almost 90% less carbon emission.

The Canadian province Saskatchewan has storage of good quality coal over 300 years old, and generates almost 50% of the required power in the region.

Transformation of the coal fired power station into a low-carbon, base-load power producer is expected to capture 1 million tonnes of CO2 annually, some of which will be liquefied and sold to oil companies to help in crude oil extraction.

The company also intends to earn additional revenue by selling fly ash, a by-product of coal combustion, and sulphuric acid which will be derived from sulphur dioxide.

Carbon Capture and Storage Association CEO Luke Warren said: "The launch today goes beyond a single project. SaskPower has made significant progress in making a valuable contribution to demonstrating a viable technical, environmental and economic case for the application of CCS to power plants.

It is hoped that Boundary Dam will form part of a much needed commercial proof point that the economics make sense."

Over time, CCS can have a global market of over £100bn, according to the ‘The economic benefits of carbon capture and storage in the UK’ report by CCSA and TUC.

UK including North Sea has 70 billion tonnes of untapped CO^₂ resources and is located ideally to have competitive advantage in the lucrative market.

Luke Warren said: "What is now urgently needed is a steady roll-out of projects to ensure that CCS becomes cost-competitive with other low-carbon technologies in the 2020s.

The UK is world-leading in developing an enduring policy framework to support CCS alongside renewable and nuclear under the Electricity Market Reform programme but it is vital that the policy delivers real projects as soon as possible."