Enbridge adds Canadian First Nations to CCS hub plan
Canadian energy infrastructure company Enbridge said February 3 it had added the First Nation Capital Investment Partnership to the list of partners involved in its proposed open access Wabamun Carbon Hub (WCH) west of Edmonton.
The proposed WCH is a combination of carbon transportation and power solutions to support carbon capture projects from Capital Power, Lehigh Cement and others.
Enbridge has said WCH will be submitted under Alberta's request for final project proposals programme to select future carbon sequestration hubs. The first round of that process closed on February 1, and the first awards, for one or more hubs in the Edmonton region, are expected to be announced in late March.
Enbridge had previously announced a collaboration with Capital Power for carbon capture and storage (CCS) solutions and will bring its expertise as a transportation and storage service provider to the project.
"We welcome the opportunity to partner with Treaty 6 First Nations and the Lac Ste. Anne Metis Community as equity owners in the carbon transportation and storage projects being developed within the open-access Wabamun Carbon Hub" said Colin Gruending, executive vice president, liquids pipelines, with Enbridge. "We see indigenous economic partnerships like this as critical to advancing reconciliation and delivering world-class projects."
The First Nation Capital Investment Partnership consists of representatives from four First Nations in Alberta – the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, Enoch Cree Nation, Paul First Nation and Alexander First Nation.
"We're looking forward to working with industry leaders who share our values of environmental stewardship and to collaborate with Enbridge on world-scale carbon transportation and storage infrastructure investments," Alexander First Nation Chief George Arcand Jr said.
If built, WCH will be among the largest integrated carbon transportation and storage projects in the world, Enbridge says. Capital Power and Lehigh Cement's planned contributions to the hub represent an opportunity to avoid nearly 4mn metric tons (mts) of CO2 emissions.