By Kevin Martel

Saskatchewan unveils world’s first carbon capture facility

Oct 2, 2014 | 12:37 PM

The curtain will finally be drawn back Thursday morning on the world’s first carbon capture and storage facility at the Boundary Dam near Estevan.

The $1.4 billion facility will hold a grand opening with dignitaries from across Saskatchewan and around the world in attendance.

“This is globally significant,” explained Dr. Graeme Sweeney from Scotland, representing the European Technology Platform of Zero Emission Fossil Fuels Power Plants.

“We dispel the myth that it can’t be done. [Saskatchewan has] one and that’s an enormously important step forward.”

The existing coal-burning plant emits carbon dioxide. The new facility will capture that carbon and safely store it underground, thus preventing the gas from entering and potentially harming the atmosphere.

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“I would like to see Europe take inspiration from the fact that that can be done here to advance our set of projects,” Sweeney said.

The United Kingdom does have two projects in the planning stage—one in Scotland, the other in England. The United States also has two similar facilities already under construction in Texas and Mississippi, both to come online over the next couple of years.

Dr. Julio Friedmann from the U.S. Department of Energy is here to take a tour of the plant as well.

“This project is a culmination of a dream,” he said.

“Projects like this show the world that this is not only a viable technology but a required technology.”

He’s here specifically to see and learn about the obstacles the province faced over the last six years as this facility was planned and built.

“All the projects around the world will face similar challenges and the more we can share that information the faster and the cheaper it’ll be to develop and deploy this technology,” Friedmann said.

“It’s just a question of putting it together in this way to understand its performance, its costs and how to get more of them built.”

The public can learn more about the Boundary Dam project through a video tour on SaskPower’s website. 

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