TransAlta and Alstom Canada are developing and implementing a proprietary chilled ammonia process that will help store CO2 underground. To enlarge illustration,
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Project Pioneer
TransAlta's approach to CCS
In April, 2008, TransAlta and Alstom Canada – a world leader in power generation technology – announced an agreement to develop a large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in Alberta. Project Pioneer is expected to deliver at least 20 per cent of the Government of Alberta’s 2015 target of 5 megatonnes (Mt) in annual CO2 reductions. This will make Alberta a world leader in both reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and in technology that will preserve the value of its fossil-fuel resource base in a carbon-constrained world.
Proprietary Process
Project Pioneer will pilot Alstom Canada’s proprietary chilled ammonia process. TransAlta considers this process as one of the more promising, and potentially lowest cost solutions for CCS. It will retrofit post-combustion capture technology to one of TransAlta’s existing coal plants. The chilled ammonia process offers several advantages over other CCS processes, including significantly less steam use, less power requirements and lower operating costs, which are all factors that should lead to rapid commercial deployment.
When complete, Project Pioneer will be one of the largest CCS facilities in the world and the first to have an integrated underground storage system. Once proven, CCS technology may be deployed across Alberta’s coal fleet, with the potential to eliminate up to 45 Mt of CO2 annually – roughly a third of the province’s 2050 target of 139 Mt in reductions. If deployed across other sectors, such as the oil sands it’s estimated the technology has the potential to capture another 20 to 30 Mt per year of high purity CO2 suitable for storage or enhanced oil recovery.
Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) work has commenced and will be completed in mid-2009. Together with its industry partners TransAlta requires financial support from the Government of Alberta to build this facility. With the right leadership and commitment, construction will begin in 2010, with operation commencing by late 2012.
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