Pembina Pipeline and TC Energy are looking for cooperation from their competitors to develop a carbon capture project in Alberta, dubbed as the Alberta Carbon Grid. According to Pembina’s CEO, the plan is to develop the project conjointly to reduce costs further.
Firstly, as we reported earlier, the Alberta Carbon Grid is a system that will capture, sequestrate and transport CO2 across crucial industrial sites in Alberta. The project will be capable of transporting more than 20 million tons of CO2 annually; and will leverage existing assets and a new sequestration hub.
The project will connect sequestration from the Fort McMurray region, the Alberta Industrial Heartland, and the Drayton Valley region; then, it will transport and deliver CO2 to critical locations across the province.
However, the project faces competition from at least two other projects; the Oil Sands Pathways, pitched by the largest oil sands producers, and Polaris, a proposal by Royal Dutch Shell. According to Reuters, Pembina has spoken with both groups about joining together to develop a single grand-scale project; CEO Mick Dilger said talks remain open.
He also remarked. “A single, large carbon capture program at scale is by far the most sensible way to do things. If everybody works together, we’ll come up with a more cost-effective solution.”
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Pembina Pipeline’s and TC Energy’s project could start operations in 2025
Moreover, to achieve such a vision, Pembina and TC Energy would have to convince Shell and the Pathways partnership, including Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus Energy; also, Imperial Oil, Suncor, and MEG Energy, to change their concepts and unite them in a single one.
Furthermore, Pembina and TC have already proposed a plan to use some spare pipelines that competitors own to reduce costs even more. The other proposals rely more on new infrastructure, Dilger said. The executive also remarked that it is still unknown how Alberta will allocate space for sequestering carbon.
For the projects, on the one hand, Pembina and TC proposed a reservoir at Fort Saskatchewan, an industrial hub near Edmonton, and not far from where Shell proposes its own carbon sequestration site. On the other hand, Pathways proposes a storage hub at Cold Lake in the oil sands.
Finally, the first phase of Pembina’s and TC Energy’s project could start operations in 2025. Dilger concluded. “Normally, we like to do things on our own because they’re simpler. But carbon capture is something that the sector can and should do cooperatively with the government. We would love to come together.”
