For Immediate Release February 27, 2008
“Green budget provisions will
have a positive
impact on Souris-Moose Mountain and Estevan
and area in particular,” says Komarnicki
Ottawa (February 27, 2008)-- Ed Komarnicki, M.P., Souris- Moose Mountain
Tuesday’s budget was a green budget and I’m pleased to see that it will have a positive impact on our constituency of Souris-Moose Mountain and the Estevan area in particular. I have been advocating for both post combustion CO2 capture and CO2 sequestration, including the use of clean coal technology and for projects to take place right here in Souris-Moose Mountain. The budget provides $240 million to Saskatchewan which will be matched by the province and used to partner with industry for a carbon capture and storage demonstration project at Estevan’s Boundary Dam.
The proposed project would rebuild and then repower a major coal fired power generation unit at Boundary Dam. This project would produce 100 megawatts (MW) of clean, base load power while reducing SaskPower’s greenhouse gas emissions by about 1 million tonnes per year. The carbon dioxide captured by the project could be used in enhanced oil recovery.
I realize that projects like this have critical paths and a number of factors that need to fall into place for success. The potential for such a project and its ultimate success has been made possible by the federal government stepping up to the plate and making a very substantial commitment in the budget.
The federal government’s investment of $240 million dollars in Estevan has the potential to leverage a $1.4 billion capital investment in the carbon capture and storage project. Without federal monies I doubt this project would go ahead. This will create and maintain jobs in the coal mining sector, at Boundary Dam for electrical production, as well as in the oil industry. The spin-offs from this investment will pay huge dividends to industry as well as to the city of Estevan and area. We need to be able to utilize coal for a low cost and affordable power supply for the residents of Saskatchewan and to meet the demands of continued economic growth in the province.
Carbon capture and storage presents an opportunity for Canada to develop world leading technology that can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Saskatchewan has been a leader in the development of carbon capture and storage technology for quite some time. It is time now to put in place a full scale commercial demonstration of carbon capture and storage and clean coal technologies.
The $240 million provided for in the budget for 2007-2008 will be paid to a third party trust once legislation has been passed which will be matched by the province and used to partner with industry. Budget 2008 also proposes modifications to better reflect the useful life of CO2 pipelines which are expected to be the primary means of transporting CO2 from industrial facilities to geological storage locations. The capital cost allowance rate for CO2 pipelines will be increased to 8% from 4% and the rate for pumping and compression equipment on CO2 pipelines will be set at 15%.
Bringing the Minister of Natural Resources, Gary Lunn, and the Minister of the Environment, John Baird, to Souris-Moose Mountain and engaging them with Saskatchewan’s Minister of Energy and Resources and Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs and Saskatchewan’s Minister of the Environment, as well as the improved relationship between the Premier of Saskatchewan and the Prime Minister of Canada certainly has enhanced the potential and prospects for Souris-Moose Mountain. I am excited to see this potential unfold and will continue to work hard in bringing the right people together to make it happen. In the long term I see enhanced oil recovery in southeast Saskatchewan as a big beneficiary of these initiatives.
All in all, a great budget that is particularly good for Souris-Moose Mountain.
