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New tenant announced for test facility

Shell Cansolv is set to use SaskPower’s carbon capture test facility at the Shand Power Station over the coming year to further explore existing and new chemistry at the core of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
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Shell Cansolv is set to use SaskPower’s carbon capture test facility at the Shand Power Station over the coming year to further explore existing and new chemistry at the core of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

SaskPower made the announcement on Tuesday morning.

Insights gained from the research will be used to enhance Cansolv’s technologies and inform future projects. SaskPower stated that the widespread use of CCS can significantly reduce emissions from power generation, and from industrial sectors that will continue to rely on fossil fuels for decades to come.

“SaskPower’s carbon capture test facility helps the next generation of CCS technology to be developed, right here in Saskatchewan,” said Dustin Duncan, the minister responsible for SaskPower. “With the Boundary Dam project and this facility, SaskPower and Saskatchewan continue to be world-leaders in the development and application of a technology that the United Nations calls essential if we are to reduce the impact of man-made emissions on climate change.” The first tenant of the facility, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, completed testing on new CCS technology in 2017.

SaskPower’s test facility utilizes a “plug-and-play” system, meaning the technology that was tested by the former tenant has now been removed and the new equipment and chemistry to be tested by Shell is being added into the facility for testing.

“The work led by Shell Cansolv over the coming year will also include the chemistry employed in the process we’re using at our Boundary Dam CCS facility, potentially allowing us to make significant improvements together, in-house,“ said SaskPower president and CEO Mike Marsh. “CCS for coal-fired power stations is still relatively new, and we continue to find new ways to improve the process, and share our progress with the world.”

This testing program continues the partnership developed with Shell Cansolv in the operation of the industrial-scale Boundary Dam carbon capture project since 2014. Shell Cansolv offers leading state of the art gas absorption solutions, regenerable sulfur dioxide scrubbing technology and carbon dioxide capture technology.

The test facility began operations in the spring of 2015.

Next week’s edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.