Pembina reduces overall emissions 14% with power unit addition at Empress plant

By Medicine Hat News on June 7, 2024.

Adding a major power unit at its Empress straddle plant reduced companywide indirect CO2 emissions of Pembina Pipelines by 14 per cent in 2023, the company’s sustainability report states.

The document also outlines that more work is planned.

Indirect, or “Scope 2”, emissions for the pipeline company were 1.13 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent last year, down about 14 per cent from 2022.

Direct emissions, known as Scope 1, increased slightly to 2.84 million tonnes across its entire network of facilities.

At Empress, the equipment capable of producing 47-megawatts of power to fill nearly all the plant’s internal needs was commissioned in late 2022 at an estimated cost of $120 million. It also recovers waste heat to aid the General Electric LM6000 natural gas turbine.

At the time it was proposed in 2019, the company estimated a reduction in 88,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases each year.

A smaller 28-megawatt cogeneration unit is now being planned for the company’s Kaybob facility, and it expects further Scope 2 reductions from a power purchase agreement with the proposed WildRose 2 wind farm, south of Seven Persons.

In February, the company applied to add a smaller 5-megawatt solar array to power some facets of the operation. That is currently before Alberta utility regulators.

Rockpoint Gas battery gets OK

A plan to install an electrical battery system at the Rockpoint Gas Storage facility north of Cluny, Alta., has been approved by regulators.

The 20-megawatt, Tesla lithium-ion system would be capable of drawing and discharging 40 megawatt hours of power via an existing, onsite substation, according to the company’s application to the Alberta Utilities Commission.

The project was issued an approval Thursday with a completion date in April 2026.