Shell has taken the final investment decision for Polaris, a carbon capture project at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park, Scotford in Alberta, Canada. Polaris is designed to capture approximately 650,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from the Shell-owned Scotford refinery and chemicals complex.
In addition to the Polaris final investment decision (FID), Shell will also proceed with the Atlas Carbon Storage Hub in partnership with ATCO EnPower. The first phase of Atlas will provide permanent underground storage for CO2 captured by the Polaris project.
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‘Carbon capture and storage is a key technology to achieve the Paris Agreement climate goals,’ says Huibert Vigeveno, Shell’s downstream, renewable and energy solutions director. ‘The Polaris and Atlas projects are important steps in reducing emissions from our own operations.’
Polaris and Atlas will build on the success of the Quest carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility at Scotford, which has safely captured and stored more than nine million tonnes of CO2 since 2015 that would otherwise have been released into the atmosphere.
Both projects are expected to begin operations toward the end of 2028.
Photo: Shell Canada’s Scotford Refinery began operations in 1984, making it the first refinery in the world to rely exclusively on synthetic crude oil mined and upgraded from Alberta’s oil sands (by John Ulan/Epic Photography/Photographic Services, Shell International Limited).
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