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Harper Visits SaskPower
A huge stamp of approval was received when Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in Estevan to confirm the federal government’s participation in the project to the tune of $240 million. -
SaskPower Completes Proposals
SaskPower completed making calls for proposals. That busy work was completed by the end of the year and in February of 2009 we here at The Mercury, reported there was a feeling within the community that “we are getting closer” to having something concrete to put together soon. -
Hitachi Obtains Contract to Build Turbine
It was announced that Hitachi was being awarded the contract to build a new turbine for Unit 3 at Boundary Dam. Although this did not provide any assurance that a capture plant would be built too, it was suggested that the turbine would be built with a capturing element built into it, so that if a green light was forthcoming, the designers and engineers would not have to go back to reconfigure. -
SaskPower Holds Open House
In March of 2010, SaskPower came to the public in Estevan with an open house event and then the project went quiet for several months with a lot of quiet work going on behind closed doors as deals began to take shape. -
Lavalin and Shell CanSolv Join CC Initiative
In March of 2010, SNC Lavalin was selected as the main construction contractor for the project, if the project were to move forward while Shell CanSolv was selected as the company to provide the amine liquids for the post-combustion project, if it were to go ahead. -
Regulations Delayed by Federal Government
Clean coal decision set back to April | Estevan MercuryBy December of 2010, it was reported that a decision by the federal government regarding environmental regulations, would be delayed, which again, put the BD3 project in a state of flux, but only temporarily. -
SaskPower to invest in Boundary Dam Power Station
SaskPower to invest in Boundary Dam Power Station | Estevan MercuryThe big news arrived on April 26, 2011, the announcement was made that a $1.24 billion carbon capture project was going to move forward at Boundary Dam, making it the largest capital project in SaskPower’s history. -
Peter Kent Visits Boundary
The federal government’s Environment Minister Peter Kent visit Boundary Dam to talk about the upcoming regulations governing greenhouse gas emissions, giving credence to the BD3 project since it was made clear that if there had been no clean coal project, Boundary Dam’s days would be numbered, beginning in 2015. -
Construction Begins
By November of 2011, 140 construction crew members were on site at Boundary Dam, starting the excavation and site preparation for the major work ahead. At the same time, talk about a reference plant to be attached to the Shand Power Station, began to hit the headlines. -
CO2 Strip Vessel Arrives
The huge CO2 stripper vessel arrived in Estevan. The 70 foot 500,000 lb. unit was brought in on a flatbed trailer with 224 tires under it to comply with highway regulations. The trip took several days from the vessel’s manufacturing site in Edmonton. Construction workers on site now numbered in the hundreds as housing became an issue for the temporary workers. -
Project Reaches Halfway Point
SNC Lavalin management noted that by mid-July of 2012, the project was at the half-way mark in terms of site construction requirements. -
SaskPower and Cenovus Announce Deal
SaskPower and Cenovus announced they had a deal wherein Cenovus would buy the CO2, up to one million tonnes a year, to provide back up enhanced oil recovery resources for their 550 wells in the nearby oil patch that were producing 27,000 barrels of oil per day. The 10-year agreement would be triggered on the day that Cenovus received its first shipment of CO2. -
Brad Wall and North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp Tour BD3
that Premier Brad Wall, accompanied by North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp had toured the nearly completed BD3 project with Heitkamp expressing a great deal of interest in the project since the logistics surrounding the Saskatchewan experience could easily be translated to the situation of power generation and oil recovery in her home state. -
BD3 Project $115 Million Over Budget
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Desorber and Absorber in Place
The Shand test plant’s desorber and absorber were in place and by the end of February, there was a note coming from SaskPower that the originally intended launch date of early April for the BD3 project would be put back to a later, unknown date. In the meantime, Cenovus stated their pipeline work was completed and had passed inspection and was ready to accept the CO2. -
BD3 Project Goes Online
Carbon Capture OperationalThe day for an official launching was noted and nailed down with Oct. 2 of this year being celebrated by all those who had played any part in the project, including the citizens of Estevan, who had expressed no doubt in the concept, way back in 2007
