In its Q1 2024 results, Canadian electricity producer Capital Power announced it is pulling out of its proposed $2.4 billion carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at the Genesee Generating Station.
Capital Power said CCS technology is “technically viable” and a potential pathway to decarbonization for thermal generation facilities, including the Genesee Generating Station. However, the company ultimately concluded that the project was not economically feasible, even with government subsidies.
Environmental Defence, a Canadian environmental advocacy organization, released a statement in response to Capital Power’s decision to cancel the CCS project, arguing that carbon capture is “unnecessary, ineffective and expensive” when considered against clean energy like wind, solar and storage.
“This decision is just the latest failure in carbon capture’s terrible track record. It should serve as a lesson for governments on how reckless it is to be using taxpayer dollars to subsidize these projects,” said Environmental Defence’s Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate. “The decision came despite massive government subsidies. Capital Power was already given $5 million from the Government of Alberta and the project would have been able to access both federal and provincial tax credits. Despite this, Capital Power still decided that the project would not be financially viable.”
Additionally, Environmental Defence said the few carbon capture projects that actually make it off the ground, such as the one at the Boundary Dam coal plant, typically only capture a “fraction” of the promised rate.
The future of a large-scale carbon capture demonstration project in North Dakota is now unclear after multiple media outlets reported a key partner’s exit from the venture.
Canada-based TC Energy has withdrawn from Project Tundra, according to Politico’s E&E News. TC Energy was a primary sponsor, along with Minnkota Power Cooperative.
TC Energy played a pivotal role as a partner in the development of Project Tundra, and their contributions provided tremendous value,” a Minnkota Power Cooperative spokesperson said in a statement provided to Power Engineering. “While we remain optimistic about advancing the project, securing capital resources will be essential to reaching a final investment decision.”
Project Tundra aims to capture carbon from the Milton R. Young Station, a coal-fired plant near Center, North Dakota. The project would use Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ KS-21 solvent to capture CO2, which would be permanently stored in saline geologic formations beneath and surrounding the power plant. The storage site is approved for a Class VI well permit.
Minnkota had said it plans to retrofit the coal-fired plant’s 430 MW Unit 2 to capture up to 90% of its CO2 emissions. Unit 2 is a cyclone-fired wet bottom boiler from Babcock & Wilcox. The project could capture an annual average of 4 million metric tons of CO2, according to project leaders said.
Project Tundra received federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) last year through two separate totaling nearly $400 million. This was in addition to another $43 million received from the federal government in 2020.
Carbon capture is seen by proponents as an emerging technology that could keep fossil-fired plants viable while reducing emissions. Under the Biden Administration’s EPA Power Plant Rule, coal- and new natural gas-fired plants would have to capture their carbon or close by various compliance dates in the 2030s.