Skip to Content News Archives Economy Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials HomeEnergyAlberta declares a race with the U.S. on carbon storage, as Canada's biggest project opensNew hub will bury up to 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 a year, the equivalent of taking more than 500,000 cars off the roadLast updated 1 hour ago Enhance Energy has begun construction of the largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Canada and one of the world's biggest CCS facilities. The Origins CCS Hub in Clive, will initially store up to 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year with the ability to grow to expand in the future. It is expected to be operational by January 2027. Photo by Enhance Energy /SuppliedA Calgary company that specializes in storing industrial emissions broke ground on what will be the country’s largest carbon storage project, and the province’s energy minister called it a race against the Americans.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorEnhance Energy Inc. said its Origins carbon capture and storage hub in central Alberta will bury up to 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 a year, which is said to be the equivalent of taking more than 500,000 cars off the road.Brian Jean, Alberta’s minister of energy and minerals, said the province is competing with the United States on carbon storage — and that it has to come out on top.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again“I watched the United States doing something very similar, and we are in a race, and we need to win that race,” Jean said Wednesday. Minister of Energy and Minerals Brian Jean said Alberta is competing with the United States on carbon storage. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia, fileHe tied the technology to the province’s hopes to double oil production to eight million barrels a day; a target Premier Danielle Smith has said could take 10 to 15 years. “If we are going to do what we think we’re gonna do and double production, we can’t do it without CCUS,” Jean said, using the industry shorthand for carbon capture, utilization and storage.Candice Paton, vice-president of corporate affairs at Enhance Energy, kicked off the groundbreaking ceremony and told the crowd that 65 people were working behind the stage on a pipeline that will carry CO2 to the hub in Clive, a small community.At a time when tariff wars between the United States and Canada are in full swing, Paton noted the pipe is built out of Canadian steel manufactured in Saskatchewan and rolled in Alberta. The line is designed for multiple users and connects the hub into the province’s CO2 transportation backbone.Enhance Energy Inc. has been putting CO2 underground at Clive since 2020 but not simply storing it. The company uses carbon to recover oil from reservoirs that had stopped producing decades ago, a process called enhanced oil recovery. Origins does the opposite. The CO2 goes into deep saltwater formations and stays there permanently.Origins are fed by the same Alberta Carbon Trunk Line, one of the largest CO2 pipelines in the world, which gathers carbon from industrial plants north of Edmonton.The ceremony opened with a land acknowledgement from Lacey Yellowbird, executive director of the Maskwacis Employment Centre, who told the crowd it was gathered on Treaty 6 territory. She is from Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis and said the centre has been supported by the company. Federal Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson said the federal government was working with Alberta to create a functioning carbon market. Photo by Michelle Berg /PostmediaTim Hodgson, the federal minister of energy and natural resources, was asked by a reporter about the economics of the project, given that Alberta’s carbon credits have been trading at a fraction of the province’s compliance price.“I fundamentally disagree with the premise of the question,” Hodgson said. “The entire point of the memorandum of understanding between Alberta and the federal government were to create a functioning carbon market, and that’s what we’re doing.”Jean took the same question and brought it back to the oil.“Right now, Alberta produces some of the lowest-emission heavy oil in the world,” he said.Chris Kupchenko, president and chief executive officer of Enhance Energy Inc., closed the event by comparing the hub to the Canadian Pacific Railway, built 140 years earlier.“Both being nation building projects in their time that every Canadian can be proud of,” Kupchenko said.Bookmark our website and support our journalism:Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. 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