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In quest of cleaner energy; Shell posts major Canada CCS milestone
Gary Park for Petroleum News
After years of being poked and prodded, Royal Dutch Shell has partly answered its critics by reporting a series of benchmark successes at its carbon capture and storage facility near Edmonton.
The Quest plant, which sequesters carbon dioxide emissions from Shell’s Scotford Upgrader, sequestered 4 million metric tons of CO2, about six months ahead of schedule, at a lower cost than expected, aided by better-than-expected reliability.
The plant started operations in November 2015 and has since run ahead of its goal to capture 1 million metric tons of carbon a year, according to a project adviser, who said performance has been aided by less unscheduled maintenance and a more efficient performance.
It has now stored CO2 underground, the most of any onshore CCS facility in the world with dedicated geological storage.
Anne Halladay, a geophysicist, said the success so far could open the door to using sequestered carbon for industrial purposes such as fertilizer, pharmaceuticals and enhanced oil recovery, while significantly lowering CO2 emissions.
Quest cost about C$1.35 billion to build, of which C$865 million was received from the Canadian and Alberta governments.
Unfortunately, she said, it is not possible to report on progress for another 12 capture and storage projects that Alberta has endorsed.
Halladay said the focus is now on more carbon capture utilization and storage for markets that can use CO2.
But she believes the technology will be part of a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.
Slate of projects worldwide Shell is involved in a slate of CCS projects worldwide, including its role as a partner in the Chevron-led Gordon LNG project in Australia, while taking a share in a technology center in Norway.
Globally there are 43 commercial large-scale CCS facilities, 18 in operation, five under construction and 20 in various stages of development, capturing close to 40 million metric tons a year of CO2.
“Quest continues to show the world that (CCS) is working, its costs are coming down and that Canadians are leaders in CCS,” said Michael Crothers, Shell’s president and country chair in Canada.
“If Quest were to be built today, we estimate it would cost about 20 percent to 30 percent less to construct and operate. With our know-how, strong regulatory frameworks and idea geology, Canada is uniquely positioned to capitalize on CCS technology.”
Tim McKay, president of Canadian Natural Resources, said Quest’s achievement “reinforces the significant opportunity that CCS projects have in ongoing responsible development of Canada’s energy resources as part of a lower carbon emissions future.”
- GARY PARK
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