Market Snapshot: Canada is expanding its CO2 pipeline network

Release date: 2024-05-01

In Canada, new carbon dioxide (CO₂) pipeline projects are being announced. In September 2023, Wolf Midstream announced the expansion of its Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ATCL) to Edmonton, AB. In Saskatchewan, Whitecap Resources stated it started engineering design of a new CO₂ capture and pipeline project. However, both projects are adding capacity to an existing network of large CO₂ pipelines that has been in operation for more than two decades. More projects could be expected in the future, as the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS)^Definition* capacity is an essential part of the federal and provincial strategies to reduce emissions and transition to a low carbon future.

Carbon dioxide pipelines are an essential part of any carbon capture and storage project. Canada currently has five large CO₂ pipeline systems. The Alberta Carbon Trunk Line^{Footnote 1} (ACTL), and the Quest^{Footnote 2} project pipelines are in Alberta, while the Boundary Dam to Weyburn, the Souris Valley^{Footnote 3} and the Cardinal Energy Ltd.'s Midale CO₂^{Footnote 4} pipelines are in south Saskatchewan (Table 1). Total capacity of these pipelines is estimated in 2023 at 7.1 million tonnes of CO₂ per year (Mt CO₂/year).

The Souris Valley pipeline^{Footnote 5}-the oldest and largest-has been in service since 2000, the Midale pipeline since 2005 and the Boundary Dam pipeline since 2014. The Quest and ACTL pipelines became operational in 2015 and 2020, respectively. The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) regulates the Souris Valley pipeline, while Quest and ACTL are regulated by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER)^{Footnote 6} and the Boundary Dam and Midale pipelines by the Saskatchewan provincial government.

Table 1: Major Canadian CO₂ Pipelines

Project	Start Up	Length (km)	Capacity (Mt CO2/y)	Start Point	End Point	Operator
Souris Valley PipelineTable Note a	2000	61Table Note b	3.0	Canada - U.S. border	Near Weyburn, SK	Whitecap Resources
Cardinal Energy Midale CO2 pipelineTable Note c	2005	25	0.3	Near Weyburn, SK	Near Weyburn, SK	Cardinal Resources Ltd
Bounday Dam To Weyburn CO2 PipelineTable Note d	2014	74	1.0	Boundary Dam Power Plant, SK	Near Weyburn, SK	SaskPower, Whitecap Resources
Quest	2015	64	1.2	Scotford Upgrader, AB	Near Thornhill, AB	Shell Canada
Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL)Table Note e	2020	240	1.6Table Note f 14.6Table Note g	Sturgeon County, AB	Near Lacombe, AB	Wolf Midstream

Sources: IEA, Shell, Wolf Midstream, Enhance Energy, Whitecap Resources, Cardinal Energy Ltd., MIT, SaskPower, National Geographic, CER.

Support for the development of CCS infrastructure (including pipelines) has been provided at the federal and provincial level for over 15 years. In 2022 the federal government enacted Canada's Carbon Management Strategy^{Footnote 11}, and as part of Budget 2021 is investing $319 million over seven years to advance the commercial viability of carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies through its Energy Innovation Program^{Footnote 12}, between other programs and policies^{Footnote 13}. Alberta has enacted a regulatory framework for CCS development and implemented support initiatives for CCS. Also, in November 2021 the Government of Saskatchewan announced that pipelines transporting CO₂ are now eligible for support through the provincial Oil Infrastructure Investment Program^{Footnote 14}.

Alberta is leading development in CCS projects in Canada, with six projects in service and 25 new projects under evaluation. These projects would require either new CO₂ pipelines or expansion of the existing ones to transport the expected vast volumes of CO₂ that would be captured and transported for storage in the province.

Figure 1: Saskatchewan Major CO₂ Pipelines

Sources: WhiteCap Resources, Cardinal Energy, IEA, CER

Description: The Souris Valley pipeline (orange line) runs from the Canada-U.S. border to a terminal near Goodwater, SK, where the CO₂ is injected in the Weyburn-Midale oil field for enhanced oil recovery. The Souris Valley pipeline is connected to Dakota Gasification Company (DGC) pipeline, which transports CO₂ captured at the DGC's plant near Beulah, North Dakota to the Canada-U.S. border. The Whitecap Resources Boundary Dam CO₂ pipeline (green line) transports CO₂ captured at SaskPower's Boundary Dam power plant to the Aquistore CO₂ Sequestration Project and to the Weyburn oil field. The Cardinal Energy Midale CO₂ Pipeline (purple line) transports CO₂ from the terminus of the Souris Valley pipeline to the Midale oil field.

Figure 2: Alberta Major CO₂ Pipelines

Sources: Wolf Midstream, Shell, Enhance Energy, Daily Oil Bulletin, CER

Description: This map shows the route of the CO₂ pipeline of the Quest CCS project and the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ATCL). The Quest pipeline (brown line) transports CO₂ captured at the Scotford upgrader in the oil sands area to three CO₂ sequestration wells near Thornhill, AB, where the CO₂ is injected in a deep saline reservoir. The ATCL (orange line) connects the Sturgeon Refinery, and the Nutrien's Redwater Fertilizer plant, both northeast of Edmonton, to oil fields where the CO₂ is sequestered near Clive, AB. The ACTL's Edmonton Connector (light orange line) is planned to connect ACTL to the Air Products' Blue Hydrogen plant near Edmonton, AB.

Date modified: 2024-04-29

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.