November 6, 2008 - Edmonton – EPCOR Utilities Inc. is proceeding to the next stage of the Alberta Government’s $2 billion carbon capture and storage (CCS) funding program under the climate change action plan.
EPCOR has now been invited to prepare more detailed proposals for the company’s two projects that were submitted during the Expression of Interest (EOI) phase of the province’s fund to advance CCS projects.
“CCS technology can help deliver a cleaner electricty future and can deliver improved air quality,” said EPCOR Executive Vice-President Brian Vaasjo. “The Alberta government has taken a leadership role in providing significant funding to support their goal of reducing emissions and EPCOR is leading the development of the technology that will take CCS from opportunity to operation.”
EPCOR is developing projects designed to provide cleaner electricity from both existing and new electricity plants.
EPCOR filed an EOI for its Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) project to be located at Genesee. Work is underway to design and engineer the first commercial scale near-zero emission thermal power plant in Canada. The Genesee IGCC project alone has the potential to capture more than one and a quarter million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
EPCOR also filed an EOI for a pilot project designed to capture emissions on existing thermal power plants. The project would use an amine scrubbing process to remove CO2 emissions from the flue gas that is released into the atmosphere. This pilot would be located at EPCOR’s Genesee 1 power generation plant, and be designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by between eight and 10%.
“Alberta is gifted with an abundance of coal, it is a stable, low-cost source of energy,” said Vaasjo. “We believe the technology options we are working on can help Alberta achieve its climate change strategy objectives by providing cleaner power for a cleaner future while retaining coal as a viable fuel for electricity production.”
EPCOR is also involved with the Alberta Saline Aquifer Project (ASAP), the Integrated CO2 Network (ICO2N) plan, the Heartland Area Redwater Project and the Wabamun Area Storage Project (WASP). These consortiums include more than 35 organizations that are working to address the transportation and sequestration of CO2 and the regulatory, safety and permitting issues associated with carbon capture and storage.
The EOI phase of the province’s process identified those CCS proposals with the greatest potential of being built quickly, and providing the best opportunities to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The next step will require successful EOI applicants to prepare a fully integrated Full Project Proposal that includes capture, transportation and storage of carbon dioxide.
Forward-looking Information
Certain information in this news release is forward looking and related to anticipated financial performance, events and strategies. When used in this context, words such as “will”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “plan”, “intend”, “target” and “expect” or similar words suggest future outcomes. By their nature, such statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, which could cause EPCOR’s actual results and experience to be materially different than the anticipated results. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, operating performance, commodity prices and volumes, load settlement, regulatory and government decisions including changes to environmental and tax legislation, weather and economic conditions, competitive pressures, construction risks, availability and cost of financing, foreign exchange risks, availability of labour and management resources and the performance of partners, contractors and suppliers.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from the plans, expectations, estimates or intentions expressed in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, EPCOR disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement even if new information becomes available, as a result of future events or for any other reason.
EPCOR’s wholly-owned subsidiaries build, own and operate power plants, electrical transmission and distribution networks, water and wastewater treatment facilities and infrastructure in Canada and the United States. EPCOR, headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, has been named one of Canada’s Top 100 employers for nine consecutive years, and was selected one of Canada’s 10 Most Earth-Friendly Employers. EPCOR’s website is http://www.epcor.ca/.
Contact
Tim le Riche
EPCOR Corporate Relations
(780) 969-8238