TransAlta wins C$778.8 million for carbon capture project

The governments of Canada and Alberta province have announced funding of C$778.8 million to support a project to capture carbon emissions in western Canada.  The money will be used to upgrade TransAltaÔÇÖs coal-fired Keephills 3 power plant west of Edmonton, Alberta, with the aim of reducing its carbon emissions. TransAlta is CanadaÔÇÖs largest investor-owned power producer, headquartered in Calgary.  The carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiative, entitled Project Pioneer, will see up to one million tonnes of carbon emissions per year captured by way of a post-combustion, chilled ammonia process, and either stored in a 2.8 kilometer-deep well adjacent to the plant, or used for enhanced oil recovery in fields nearby. It is estimated that the carbon emissions reduction at the plant will account for 20 percent of AlbertaÔÇÖs reduction target by 2015. CanadaÔÇÖs federal government will contribute C$343 million to the project from its Clean Energy Fund and Alberta will contribute C$431 million, as well as an extra C$5 million to cover engineering and design costs. Most of the funding from Alberta is coming from its C$2 billion Carbon Capture and Storage Fund. ÔÇ£We are very pleased Project Pioneer has been selected to receive the crucial funding needed by both governments,ÔÇØ said Steve Snyder, president and CEO of TransAlta, in a statement.  ÔÇ£This public-private partnership will move us a step closer toward the maturation of CCS technology, vital to the continued development of our energy resources in an environmentally-sustainable way.ÔÇØ  TransAlta is partnering with Capital Power, an Edmonton-based electricity generator, and energy technology expert AlstomÔÇÖs Canadian unit, to deliver the project. The technology used in Project Pioneer, which is among the first of its kind in the world, may be used to retrofit other coal-fired plants, on an international scale. If carried out in this way, TransAlta has said CCS has the potential to make coal a carbon-neutral fuel.  Last week, Canada announced that it will be investing C$821 million over 15 years in carbon capture technology at the Shell Quest joint venture project near Edmonton. The project is run by Shell Canada, Chevron Canada and Marathon oil sands. *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *