Viking’s Brett Sutter retires as active player Page 10 Wednesday, July 17, 2024 Vol. 47, No. 29
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Carbon capture project in northeast advances with provincial agreement
The Viking Community Hall was the centre of activity Tuesday, April 23 as many people came out to hear about a proposed carbon capture project that may well include the Viking area. A joint agreement by Atco and Shell has been signed with the provincial government allowing for the sequestration hub to proceed. Patricia Harcourt Editor
Carbon capture open houses held in Viking, Vegreville and Round Hill last April, dealt with projects developing underground storage of CO2 in these regions. Now the project has reached another step forward after an agreement was signed with the provincial government July 8. Viking residents heard about the Atlas Carbon Storage Hub starting to develop carbon capture activities in the area. As well as receiving CO2 from the industrial Heartland, third party sources of carbon dioxide are also being invited to use the sequestration on an “open access” basis.
Formally known as CO2 sequestration, the Hub wants to use appropriate regions of East Central Alberta to store carbon dioxide emissions deep underground. On June 8, it was announced that “carbon capture, utilization, and storage in Alberta took a big step forward as the Atlas project signed a carbon sequestration agreement with Alberta’s government.” The Atlas Carbon Storage Hub is being undertaken through a partnership with Shell and ATCO EnPower. It is the first hub project to convert Phase 1 of their evaluation agreement into a sequestration agreement, stated a government news release. “This allows them the right to inject and store
captured carbon dioxide on their lease approximately 45 kilometres east of Edmonton,” it stated. Calling this a historic signing that begins the drive towards decarbonization in earnest, the Alberta government called it a “critical milestone for Alberta as the province works to decarbonize the industry.” And they are laying claim that such projects have already sequestered an amount of carbon equivalent to removing 2.5 million cars off the road. “This project, when complete, will accelerate the province’s goals,” stated the government. Brian Jean, Minister of Energy and Minerals, called this a “historic agreement,” that would promote carbon capture
(Left to right) Brian Jean, Minister of Energy and Minerals, Susannah Pierce, president and country chair, Shell Canada, and Bob Myles, chief operating officer, ATCO EnPower, sign historic carbon sequestration agreement. development in the province. “We’re moving as quickly as anywhere in the world to develop carbon capture, utilization, and storage,” he said, calling it “a critical tool in meeting our emission targets.” “I am confident other hub operators won’t be
far behind Atlas to get their project moving in this new and exciting energy sector,” he concluded. The next step is for Atlas to apply for required regulatory approvals, including Directive 65 project approval from the Alberta Energy
Regulator (AER) for carbon capture, transportation and subsurface injection activities. “Part of this approval process also includes addressing concerns from potentially impacted stakeholders,” stated the government. “The AER only approves Continued on Page 8