Enhance Energy Planning World-Scale CO-2 Pipeline In Alberta

The first world-scale project for transporting and burying greenhouse gases looks likely to be built in Alberta, Canada, according to Enhance Energy Inc., sponsor of the project.

The company is in the process of obtaining regulatory approvals and conducting detailed engineering leading to the construction of a 149-mile (240-km), 16-inch CO-2 pipeline in central Alberta, along with associated facilities. Construction is expected to start in 2010 with operational startup expected in 2011. Estimated cost - including the carbon dioxide capture/treatment facilities, the pipeline and a pump station - is estimated to be about $C300 million.

The Enhance CO-2 Pipeline System will have an ultimate design capacity of 800 MMscf/d (40,000 metric tons/d) with initial throughput planned at 100 MMscf/d (5,000 metric tons/d).

To date, Sunstone Projects Ltd. has assisted in the design and project management of the new system. Other technical and support contracts have been awarded to Synergas Technologies Inc., for facilities engineering; Scott Land and Lease, as land agents; and Worley Parsons, for environmental services.

Susan Cole, president of Enhance, said, “Besides the enormous environmental benefits to Alberta, the pipeline system will benefit Albertans through the jobs it will provide and the incremental royalties and taxes it will generate through enhanced oil recovery. Environmentally, the completed project will be the equivalent of taking 2,600,000 cars off the roads, so it is positive for Albertans on many levels. It is one of the largest projects in the world and it is not experimental; it is based on proven technology.”

The company expects regulatory approvals to be handed down this year in time for construction to commence during 2010. Cole said, “We have been able to make rapid progress because of the leadership shown by the Alberta government in establishing regulations on CO-2 emission in the province.”

The pipeline system will initially be supplied with CO-2 produced by two producers in north-central Alberta. The operations are North West Upgrading Inc. (heavy oil and bitumen) and Agrium Inc. (fertilizer). According to Enhance, after the gas is prepared in the north for pipeline transport, it will be transported to existing mature oil fields in south-central Alberta. The oilfields will use the gas to enhance production while the CO-2 will remain permanently stored in the oil-bearing reservoirs.

Cole said, “This project shows how an eco-industrial complex, where one industry relies on the waste products of another, can become a reality in Alberta. Because the CO-2 emissions of North West Upgrading and Agrium are permanently stored in the oil reservoirs of south-central Alberta, they will have the lowest CO-2 emission profiles for projects of their type in the world.”