The International Energy Agency (IEA) has welcomed the launch of the world’s first large-scale power station equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, describing it as a “historic” milestone on the road towards a low-carbon energy future.
The 110 MW-retrofit of SaskPower’s Boundary Dam coal-fired power plant, in Saskatchewan, Canada, would trap around one-million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year, which would be injected into nearby oilfields to enhance oil recovery.
The plant began capturing CO2 in September and was due to be inaugurated this week.
The IEA believed CCS would play a central role in an ambitious, climate-friendly future energy scenario, accounting for one-sixth of the required emissions reductions by 2050.
CCS is the family of technologies and techniques that enables the capture of CO2 from fuel combustion or industrial processes, its transport using ships or pipelines, and its storage underground.
IEA analysis had shown that, without significant deployment of CCS, more than two-thirds of current proven fossil fuel reserves could not be commercialised before 2050 if the increase in global temperatures was to remain below 2 ºC.