The Government of Saskatchewan has approved construction of the Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Project—among the first commercial-scale carbon capture and storage facilities in the world. The C$1.24-billion (US$1.3 billion) project will transform an aging generating unit at the SaskPower Boundary Dam Power Station near Estevan, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately one million tonnes per year in addition to capturing CO2 for enhanced oil recovery.
The Canadian federal government provided $240 million to assist in the development of the project.
SaskPower has chosen SNC Lavalin to oversee detailed engineering, procurement and construction activities at the Boundary Dam project. Cansolv, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell Global Solutions, will supply the carbon capture process. Hitachi will supply an advanced steam turbine—the first in the world designed to fully integrate a coal-fired power plant with carbon capture technology.
Construction on the project will begin immediately, with operations commencing in 2014. The new generating unit at Boundary Dam will have the capacity to generate 110 megawatts (MW) of electricity.
In addition to capturing CO2 for enhanced oil recovery operations, the Boundary Dam project will also capture sulfur dioxide (SO2) to be used in the production of sulphuric acid.
Boundary Dam Power Station is SaskPower’s largest generating facility, with six units and a combined generating capacity of 824 MW. The company’s three coal-fired power plants account for approximately 50% of its generating capacity of 3,513 MW. SaskPower has a total available generating capacity of 3,982 when the production of independent power producers is taken into account.
The Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Project is part of a capital program that will see billions of dollars invested in SaskPower’s power production and transmission and distribution systems over the next decade.