Delivering a world-scale CCUS project in Alberta
At a glance
The Alberta Carbon Grid™ (ACG) is a world-scale carbon transportation and sequestration system being designed to serve multiple customers, industries, and sectors. Once fully constructed, the ACG aims to transport and sequester up to 20 million tonnes of CO2 annually (mtpa) – almost 10% of Alberta's industrial emissions and has a vital role in supporting Alberta's lower-carbon economy.
The challenge
One of the challenges of carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) projects face is the ability to sequester the proposed quantities of CO2 effectively. Inadequate subsurface evaluation can lead to underperformance. Therefore, significant attention to subsurface risks and uncertainties is required to ensure the ACG can meet its project objective of 20 mtpa sequestration capacity for 30 years. A proper appraisal of the sequestration formation, including seismic acquisition, core sampling and testing program, and dynamic reservoir modelling, informs the sequestration facilities' design and confirms the facility's capacity to sequester CO2. During operation, Monitoring, Measurement, and Verification (MMV) will be critical to assuring the CO2 behaves in the subsurface as expected and allows calibration and updates to the dynamic simulations to demonstrate containment of the CO2 plume more accurately.
Our response
We are working to retire subsurface risks and uncertainties through a proper pre-appraisal program for the ACG. We developed the preliminary static geologic model and dynamic reservoir simulation for the entire Area of Interest, which was used for the Full Project Proposal (FPP) submittal for pore space to the Government of Alberta and will guide the development of the appraisal program going forward. Appraisal of sequestration formation will occur in stages as the ACG is built out. Additionally, a program for acquiring new 2D/3D/4D seismic data and core drilling and laboratory analysis is in development. Appraisal of the full system will require several years. This will allow detailed dynamic reservoir simulations to reduce risk and uncertainty. The results will form a basis for the design and will be updated as each new sequestration well is drilled.
The impact
Our world-class subsurface and facilities team dramatically reduced subsurface risk and uncertainty through detailed appraisal, simulation, and design. Our expertise includes surface and subsurface facilities to create a holistic design solution across the entire CCUS value chain, from air to pore space and concept to operation.
What’s next for the ACG?
The Alberta Government has confirmed that the Alberta Carbon Grid™ and the proposal to build and operate a carbon storage hub and gathering lines in Alberta's industrial heartland, has been invited to move forward into the next stage of the province's CCUS process. ACG will work alongside the Government of Alberta, collaborate with industry peers, and connect with Indigenous communities and key stakeholders to advance this important work. GHD is proud to be collaborating with the ACG on this important industry leading work.