First commercial carbon-capture project, in Canada, will be closely watched

Canada will today launch the world's first commercial-scale carbon capture and storage project at a coal-fired power plant, a closely watched experiment designed to cut 90 per cent of the plant's carbon emissions.

The carbon-capture unit at the Boundary Dam power plant in Estevan, Saskatchewan, will be formally commissioned after a four-year US$1.21 billion retrofit.

Governments and industry around the world will be watching to see if the operator of the plant, SaskPower, is able to turn large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) into a commercial success.

SaskPower, owned by the Prairie province of Saskatchewan, installed the CCS unit to prevent about 1 million tonnes, or 90 per cent, of Boundary Dam's annual carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere once the unit reaches full operating capacity later this year.

Most of that carbon will be bought by Canada's No2 oil and gas producer, Cenovus Energy, and used for enhanced oil recovery.

Concerns about greenhouse gas emissions have prompted several countries to pledge support to CCS projects and spurred companies to explore new technology. However, progress on the handful of CCS projects that have been approved has been slow and costly.