The provincial government released its plan to advance private sector investments in carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) at a press conference held yesterday at Whitecap Resources' Weyburn CCUS unit. (Read more HERE)

The Honourable Dustin Duncan, Minister of Education and MLA for Weyburn-Big Muddy weighed in with his thoughts on the new boost that the Weyburn site will see from the provincial government as he previously served as the Minister of Energy and Resources for Saskatchewan.

"This is Saskatchewan's next step in providing leadership and frankly world leadership when it comes to CCUS. I think certainly everybody back home knows of the impact that Weyburn and area has had on CCUS with the Weyburn and Midale enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects over the last couple of decades and then expanding onto that and getting into Boundary Dam 3 with the CCUS unit. So we're taking the next step of outlining a strategy for the province that can see Saskatchewan continue to be a leader when it comes to CCUS and can continue to attract private investment that is looking to invest in this technology."

The Government of Saskatchewan anticipates that CCUS projects will attract provincial investment of more than $2 billion and sequester over two million tonnes of CO2 annually.

Increasing the potential availability of CCUS hubs and facilities will also encourage further development of hydrogen production and enable hydrogen producers to further reduce their environmental footprint by storing CO2 underground.

"I think first and foremost it continues to shine a light on the expertise that we have in the Weyburn area when it comes to carbon capture," Duncan expressed. "Weyburn's always pretty high on the list of places for people that are looking to understand more about carbon capture and enhanced oil recovery. It also provides for a continued opportunity to expand in that field not only in the southeast part of the province but also the whole province. We have a lot of areas when it comes to the potential for capturing carbon and certainly for us in the southeast there's the continued potential for using it for enhanced oil recovery. What we're looking to do is provide that regulatory certainty and framework for companies that are literally looking to invest billions of dollars in CCUS."

Duncan added that the expansion in the southeast will only create more jobs and opportunities for the Weyburn area and he said that Weyburn's role in CCUS technology will be a great example for the whole country to follow.

The Government of Saskatchewan continues to call on the Federal Government to engage with the province to advance these priorities, which will help meet federally-mandated emission targets. The province is seeking prioritized federal funding for CCUS projects, infrastructure hubs, and the development of a CCUS tax credit announced in the 2021 federal budget. This past spring, the Government of Saskatchewan invited federal Ministers to tour provincial CCUS operations. That invitation remains open.

In July, as part of Saskatchewan’s efforts to reduce emissions under federally-imposed measures, the province wrote to federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson requesting financial assistance to build additional CCUS facilities on SaskPower’s coal-fired generation units to support Estevan workers, the environment, and the economy. Saskatchewan currently has 12 CO2 EOR projects in operation, as well as SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Unit 3 (BD3) carbon dioxide capture project, which opened in 2014. BD3 is the world’s first fully integrated post-combustion CO2 capture and storage project and has captured over four million tonnes of CO2 to date.