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By Regan Tate/City of Medicine Hat

Medicine Hat one of 9 projects funded to study carbon capture and storage

Oct 7, 2023 | 10:00 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB–Natural Resources Canada is providing $5-million in funding from the Energy Innovation Program (EIP) to Medicine Hat’s Clear Horizon project.

The grant funding will support the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) study for carbon capture and storage (CCS), a technology aimed at mitigating emissions.

Project Clear Horizon is expected to permanently sequester up to three million tonnes of CO₂ annually. It is one of only nine projects across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba to receive FEED funding through the EIP from a total of 96 submissions.

“This funding represents an important contribution on our journey to a prosperous net-zero economy,” said Councilor Alison Van Dyke, Chair of the City’s Energy, Land and Environment committee. “As we move through the transition to a sustainable low-carbon future, it is critical that we explore CCS as a way to support existing industry while adding to the region’s toolbox to attract further investment.”

CCS is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from large emissions sources, such as power generation and industrial facilities, and storing it in deep underground geologic formations so that it is not emitted into the atmosphere. CCS is an important emissions reduction technology that can be applied to reduce the carbon footprint of an industry or region.

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The initial goal of Project Clear Horizon is to understand the injection and underground storage capabilities of the geology in the Medicine Hat region through drilling and testing. It will also determine the optimal pipeline routing and compression technology required to transport carbon dioxide from emission sources to the injection point.

The initial evaluation phase of the project is expected to cost approximately $13 million, funded partially from this $5 million investment from Natural Resources Canada and a previous contribution of $2.5 million from Emissions Reduction Alberta. The work completed in this initial phase will inform advancement decisions for subsequent stages of establishing a regional CCS hub.

“Carbon management technologies are largely in their infancy at a large scale and require significant up-front investment to evaluate if they would work effectively in certain areas and for certain applications,” said Rochelle Pancoast, Managing Director of Energy, Land and Environment. “CCS is part of a broader set of studies and analysis in decarbonization that the City is exploring to support net-zero climate change targets. Hydrogen, renewable natural gas and renewable energy remain on the radar as well as programming to support residents to move towards cleaner living.”

For more information about the City’s energy transition initiatives, visit www.medicinehat.ca/energytransition.