An analyst believes that the decision to halt Canada’s largest carbon capture and storage project is likely due to financial uncertainty and technological risks. Capital Power announced that it would no longer pursue carbon capture at its Genesee power plant near Edmonton, which was expected to capture about three million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, making it the largest Canadian facility.
According to Avik Dey, CEO of Capital Power, the economics of the project did not add up. Scott MacDougall of the clean energy think tank, the Pembina Institute, suggests that uncertainty over the future value of carbon credits and political direction of carbon pricing may have contributed to this decision. He also notes that there were risks associated with being the first to use carbon capture technology in a gas plant.
MacDougall does not anticipate other carbon capture proposals being put on hold. He believes that while there are risks associated with using carbon capture technology in gas plants, these risks are well understood and less prevalent in other industries where the technology is more widely used. As such, he sees future projects as more viable than those currently underway.