CCS project planned for Canada

and

have signed an agreement to develop a large scale CO

capture and storage (CCS) facility in Alberta, Canada.

The project will see Alstom’s proprietary Chilled Ammonia Process retrofitted at a TransAlta coal fired power station west of Edmonton. The companies aim to reduce CO₂ emissions from the plant by one million tonnes a year.

The first phase of the project will begin this year at a cost of approximately €7.5m. This, and subsequent phases, are subject to partner and government funding and will continue over the next five years. Testing is expected to commence in 2012.

According to Alstom, coal-fired generation accounts for almost half of the generating capacity in North America and processes must be developed to find an economically viable way to retrofit existing infrastructure.

‘Over the long term, we believe CCS can be a source of competitive advantage for TransAlta and for Canada,’ said Steve Snyder, president and CEO of TransAlta. ‘These initial projects, however, are not commercially viable at this point, and will not proceed without industry and government partnerships.’

TransAlta has also partnered with experts at the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy (ISEEE), part of the University of Calgary, to quantify CO

sequestration potential in the Wabamum area west of Edmonton. The results, due in January 2009, will provide a scientific assessment of potential sequestration sites in the area surrounding several power plants including their capacity and security.