Pioneer – a project located in Alberta, Canada and led by TransAlta Corporation – is receiving AU$5 million in support of concept definition studies that cover all aspects of the CCS value chain at large scale.
“Project Pioneer is planned to be among the world’s largest CCS projects. As such, any knowledge emerging from the early development and implementation of this project will help accelerate the deployment of other similar efforts worldwide, including Australia,” said Institute CEO Nick Otter.
He added: “Despite considerable ongoing research and the existence of operating demonstration projects, CCS is still an emerging technology. A key factor in its uptake will be the ability to use the knowledge now being developed to accelerate new and existing projects at the commercial scale required”.
The project, a consortium of public and private partners, will retrofit TransAlta and Capital Power’s jointly owned Keephills 3 (K3) coal-fired power plant, which is currently under construction. The power plant will generate 450MW net of power output. To be operational in 2015, the plant is expected to capture around one million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. The captured carbon will be transported and utilised for enhanced oil recovery and permanently stored within geological saline aquifers.
“The advanced design of this plant, where a carbon capture facility is to be fitted to a very new build power plant employing the latest technologies, will make it one of the world’s lowest emitting coal plants and where there will be many valuable lessons for new CCS projects looking to integrate with advanced power plant technologies,” explained Otter.
The project is the seventh to be engaged by the Institute in the organisation’s efforts to become a global central repository of knowledge, experience and information on CCS.
Knowledge from projects will be captured from different stages of project life cycle, across technologies and geographic regions. It will be shared with the broader industry via workshops, thematic group discussions and one-on-one meetings. It will also be shared through the Institute’s newly launched digital knowledge platform.
Otter said: “The projects we work with are selected across the range of technology, regulatory, policy and financial hurdles that must be addressed”.
More project support announcements are expected in coming months.
For further information please contact:
Kristina Stefanova
Media Manager
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About the Global CCS Institute
The Global CCS Institute works with organisations and governments to accelerate the broad deployment of commercial CCS and ensure that the technology plays a role in responding to the world’s need for a low carbon energy future. The interim goal of the Institute is to accelerate the development of 20 commercial-scale integrated demonstration projects.
The Institute plays a key role in sharing knowledge across demonstration projects and is working on enabling the regulatory and policy as well as commercial and financial conditions for CCS to be deployed commercially around the world. It has more than 260 Members, some 35 of which are national and regional governments, including Canada and Alberta.
For more information, visit www.globalccsinstitute.com
About Project Pioneer
Project Pioneer is among the world’s largest fully-integrated CCS initiatives within the power sector. It will be a near commercial-scale demonstration of all elements of the CCS chain through a unique combination of partners, technology and integration. Project Pioneer brings together public and private partners who have been leaders on environmental issues for years. Current partners include:
• TransAlta – project leader and operational partner;
• Government of Canada – contributing $343 million through the Clean Energy Fund and the federal ecoENERGY Technology Initiative;
• Government of Alberta – contributing $431 million through its $2 billion CCS Fund with an additional $5 million from the Alberta EcoTrust Grant program;
• Capital Power Corporation – generation partner;
• Enbridge Inc – CO2 pipeline transportation and storage leader; and
• Alstom Canada – capture technology leader.
For more information about Project Pioneer, visit www.projectpioneer.ca
