Financial, technology risks likely behind decision to pull plug on Alberta carbon capture project: analyst

An analyst says a corporate decision to mothball Canada’s largest carbon capture and storage project is likely the result of financial uncertainty and technological risks.

Capital Power announced Wednesday it would no longer pursue carbon capture at its Genesee power plant near Edmonton.

The $2.4-billion project would have captured about three million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, much more than other Canadian carbon capture facilities.

2:04 The transformation of Genesee: How Capital Power plans to keep the decades-old power plant operating

Capital Power CEO Avik Dey says the economics of the project don’t add up.

Scott MacDougall of clean energy think tank the Pembina Institute says that’s probably because of uncertainty over the future value of carbon credits and the political fate of carbon pricing.

He says Capital Power would have been the first to use the technology in a gas plant, which also carries risk and adds cost.

He says he doesn’t expect other carbon capture proposals to be put on hold.

The technology is different and better understood in other industries, he says, meaning the risks are lower.