July 15, 2009

Genesee CCS Project Negotiating Alberta Government CCS Fund Support

The government of Alberta announced June 30 2009 that the EPCOR/Enbridge proposal for an IGCC carbon-capture power generation facility at Genesee is one of three projects selected for the negotiation of letters of intent under Alberta's $2 billion program for large-scale CCS projects.

"We are delighted to have been selected to negotiate a letter of intent for the Genesee IGCC CCS project," said EPCOR president & CEO Don Lowry. "The government of Alberta has shown leadership in committing to commercial-scale carbon capture and sequestration. Now
it's up to industry to step forward with breakthrough technologies. We believe our proposal is one of those breakthroughs, and we're looking forward to seeing it pursued by the new Capital Power Corporation."

"We're ready to work with our project partners, the province, and the Genesee community to take CCS technology from opportunity to operation," added incoming Capital Power President & CEO Brian Vaasjo. "The plant we're proposing would help establish Alberta as a global leader in clean energy. CCS is a bridge to the future for the power industry, and Capital Power is committed to being a part of that future."

"We believe that CCS will prove to be an important technology in reducing carbon dioxide emissions," said Patrick D. Daniel, Enbridge president & CEO. "Through the role that Enbridge and the Alberta Saline Aquifer Project (ASAP) will be playing in the Genesee IGCC CCS project, we'll have the opportunity to thoroughly test the technology for safety and effectiveness, and to share it with others in our industry."

The Genesee IGCC CCS project would be North America's first project combining an IGCC commercial-scale near-zero-emission thermal power plant with carbon capture, compression and storage. It has the potential to capture more than 3,300 metric tons per day or 1.2 million metric tons per year of CO2 emissions.

Enbridge would be responsible for transporting captured CO2 from the Genesee site for use in enhanced oil recovery or for permanent storage in deep saline aquifers, and ASAP would be responsible for saline aquifer sequestration.

In its announcement, the province of Alberta indicated it would work to have letters of intent signed by the end of July. The province of Alberta has budgeted up to $100 million in the current fiscal year for engineering and design work on the successful projects.

On May 8, EPCOR announced its plans to create Capital Power to acquire EPCOR's power-generation assets. EPCOR's interest in the Genesee IGCC CCS project will be sold to Capital Power as part of that transaction, which closed July 9.

Construction of the project will be subject to conditions such as regulatory approvals, economic and engineering assessments, and successful negotiation of an agreement with the province of Alberta.

-Zeus Syngas Refining Report