Over $40 Million Investment to Kickstart $20 Billion in Carbon Capture Projects

ERA is committing $40 million from the Government of Alberta’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund to 11 projects worth $194 million. If successful, these projects could lead to over $20 billion in capital expenditures, create thousands of jobs, and reduce about 24 million tonnes of emissions annually—this is the equivalent of reducing Alberta’s annual industrial emissions by almost 10 per cent.

Funding recipients from the Carbon Capture Kickstart Challenge were announced on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 by; Minister of Alberta Environment and Parks, Whitney Issik; Minister of Energy, and ERA CEO, Justin Riemer. The announcement took place at the Shepard Energy Centre in Calgary.

Carbon Capture Kickstart is intended to lay the groundwork for significant future investments by funding pre-construction studies for facility-specific opportunities. This investment will inspire shared learnings about the economic and emissions reduction potential of this critical technology and will position Alberta and Canada as developing CCUS technologies the world needs.

Projects represent diverse industrial sectors—power generation, cement, fertilizer, forest products, and oil and gas—at large emitter sites across Alberta. Many of these projects represent the first stage of significantly larger overall project plans. All funded projects plan to be up and running by 2030.

THE FOLLOWING PROJECTS WERE SELECTED FOR FUNDING:  

Canadian Natural Resources Limited*
Oil Sands CCUS Pathways to Net Zero
ERA funding: $5 million
Project cost: $46.33 million

Heartland Generation Ltd.
Innovative Integration of Carbon Capture for Clean Power
ERA funding: $5 million
Project cost: $38.37 million

Lafarge Canada
Exshaw Cement Carbon Capture and Bow Valley Decarbonization
ERA Funding: $5 million
Project cost: $27 million

Capital Power Corporation
Genesee CCS
ERA funding: $5 million
Project cost: $12.35 million

Strathcona Resources Ltd*
Post-Combustion Flue Gas Carbon Capture at Cold Lake Region SAGD Facilities
ERA funding: $5 million
Project cost: $10 million

Entropy Inc.
Athabasca Leismer Carbon Capture
ERA funding: $3.3 million
Project cost: $10.65 million

Agrium Canada Partnership
Nutrien Redwater Carbon Capture Study
ERA Funding: $3.28 million
Project cost: $12.6 million

Enmax Energy Corporation
Shepard Energy Centre Carbon Capture Unit FEED Study
ERA funding: $3.06 million
Project cost: $6.11 million

City of Medicine Hat*
Project Clear Horizon
ERA funding: $2.5 million
Project cost: $5 million

Vault 44.01*
Hinton Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage Project
ERA funding: $2.49 million
Project cost: $15.58 million

Suncor Energy Services Inc.*
Svante’s CO2 capture process for Suncor’s Fluid Catalytic Cracker
ERA funding: $950 thousand
Project cost: $9.9 million

APPROVAL PROCESS

These 11 projects were selected through ERA’s competitive review process. A team of experts in science, engineering, business development, commercialization, financing, and greenhouse gas quantification conducted an independent, rigorous, transparent review overseen by a Fairness Monitor.

ALIGNING WITH PROVINCIAL AND FEDERAL PRIORITIES

Carbon Capture Kickstart accelerates implementation of carbon capture utilization and sequestration (CCUS) projects in Alberta by reducing the technical and financial uncertainty around industrial-scale projects to enable near term final investment decisions. The Call enables Alberta industries to maximize the benefit of the Federal Government’s tax credit for capital invested in new CCUS projects, the Government of Alberta’s carbon sequestration hub approach, and aligns with the $305 million over four years earmarked by the province for future carbon capture projects.

Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN) is also committing up to $50 million through its CCUS Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Studies funding program to 11 projects, five of these are Alberta-based projects also receiving funding from ERA (indicated in the project  list above by *). ERA and NRCan worked closely to jointly leverage funds for projects based in Alberta.

ABOUT THE CALL

ERA’s Carbon Capture Kickstart funding opportunity was designed to accelerate development of industrial-scale carbon capture and transportation technology solutions in Alberta. The funding call builds on Alberta’s global leadership in this space, and will fill key knowledge gaps, drive partnerships and innovation, and accelerate project financing and deployment in Alberta.

Carbon Capture Kickstart supports pre-construction design and engineering. It does not support capital costs. It is focused on onsite carbon capture, direct air capture, direct carbon conversion, and strategic CO2 transportation infrastructure. Studies may cover multiple eligible areas. The underlying technologies funded must be at a sufficient level of technical and commercial development that they are ready for commercial-scale projects at an actual industry site.

Proposals were invited from across industrial sectors: power generation, cement production, industrial manufacturing, oil and gas, and more. All proposals needed to target specific existing large final emitter sites in Alberta. Submissions were encouraged for studies that will build upon existing work but were required to demonstrate how the study will advance the project beyond the current state. The minimum scale of project is a capture rate of 200 ktCO2 annually. For transportation network projects, the minimum scale is an annual transport volume of 1 MtCO2 and projects must include multiple capture sites.

Technology developers, industry operators, industrial associations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), municipalities, and others were encouraged to apply. Partnerships and collaborations were encouraged. Applicants were also encouraged to engage and include Alberta’s post-secondary and research institutions in project consortia where appropriate.

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KNOWLEDGE SHARING

The purpose of this call is to provide valuable information to support investment decisions and policy and program design for Alberta and Canada. To be successful, applicants needed to demonstrate how their study will incorporate learnings from previous CCUS projects/studies and how the ERA-funded study will have transferrable learnings for future work.

All ERA funding recipients are required to produce a final outcomes report that is shared publicly for the broader benefit of Alberta. Funding recipients will be required to report on project outcomes, achievements, and lessons learned including GHG reductions, job creation, and other environmental, economic, and social benefits.

Successful applicants committed to the following:

  • Publication of study learnings and key outcomes following completion
  • Publication in whole or in part (where confidentiality is needed to protect equipment supplier intellectual property) of the completed study
  • Recipient participation in an annual confidential roundtable with other recipients to discuss and share learnings and best practices
  • Recipient participation in a wrap-up public Lessons Learned event to broadly share the high-level outcomes of their studies
  • Recipient provision of Post Project Reports to inform ERA on project outcomes.

By supporting these studies, ERA hopes to:

  • Improve understanding of the current costs associated with large-scale adoption of carbon capture to better inform investment decisions.
  • Provide industry and government with increased lines of sight to the feasibility and integration requirements of large-scale CCUS projects in Alberta.
  • De-risk initiation of industrial-scale carbon capture projects and accelerate substantial follow-on investment for projects that have favorable study findings.
  • Build Alberta’s capabilities and develop a qualified workforce familiar with carbon capture technologies, enhancing Alberta’s position as a leader in the area.
  • Increase coordination with the Government of Alberta’s recently announced carbon sequestration hub approach.