City moves money to start up carbon capture project

By COLLIN GALLANT on July 6, 2022.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

City council has reallocated up to $11 million to pay for initial work on its proposed carbon capture project and is moving forward to “early stage evaluation and development.”

The proposal, known as “Project Clear Horizon,” was announced last summer as a way to shield city utility operations, utility customers and local industry from the increasing cost of carbon levies.

“The federal government has set legally binding net-zero carbon targets, and both the provincial and federal governments see carbon capture as a viable technological solution to reduce carbon emissions to intensive carbon-intensive industries,” said Brad Maynes, managing director of the utility and infrastructure division.

“It’s a made-in-Medicine-Hat opportunity to provide solutions for existing and future industry, along with a balance between a strong economy and a clear environment.”

A separate project linked to Carbon Capture Utilization and Sequestration (CCUS) in the city’s industrial attraction strategy will be outlined today with the public release of the “towards Hydrogen” report, which was written this year toward drawing in clean-burning fuel production.

In May, the city made a formal application to the province for rights to underground geologic formations which would store carbon dioxide captured from industrial processes. Alberta is progressing by region in approving so-called CCUS Hubs. Following the Edmonton area and oilsands proposals, southern Alberta proposals could be endorsed this fall.

Initial clients could include the city’s own natural gas power plant, and several existing industrial complexes, but the province requires the hubs operate on an open-access basis. Previously, administrators stated the general location as north of the city limits along Box Springs Road.

The budget item Monday describes the potential for third-party funding and grants to further the work, which would lower the city’s cost.

The item at council moves unspent money from the energy divisions toward the project and involves work cancelled or no longer required, since most of the city’s working wells are set for abandonment.

“It’s a reallocation of already budgeted funds,” Maynes told council. “It’s not a new money request.”

Additionally, the 2022 city budget allocated up to $6 million for drilling, mostly deep exploratory wells to prove the capacity of pore space to retain carbon.