Construction of Canada’s largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) project has begun, one of a number of such projects making progress internationally.
The Origins Carbon Capture and Storage Hub, located near Clive, Alberta will initially store up to 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, is being built by Enhance Energy supported by the governments of Canada and Alberta. It is expected to become operational in January 2027.
Connected to Alberta’s existing carbon dioxide transportation network, the hub will initially serve industrial facilities in the region and could support a range of sectors including oil and gas, petrochemicals, cement and power generation.
The Origins CCS hub is supported by two $5 million grants from Natural Resources Canada’s Energy Innovation Program. Enhance Energy said that the project builds on experience from the existing Clive CCS project which has permanently stored more than 9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide since 2020.
“Alberta is a global leader in carbon capture and storage technology, thanks to our geology, expertise and investment environment. The Enhance Energy Hub will help ensure Alberta produces the most responsible oil and gas in the world while creating investment and jobs in rural Alberta. This project will play a key role in driving our economy forward,” said Brian Jean, minister of energy and minerals at the Government of Alberta.
In a sperate development ExxonMobil has said that it has now started CCS operations at the direct reduced iron (DRI) steel manufacturing facility run by Nucor in Convent, Louisiana, US. The project will capture, transport and store up to 800 000 tpa of carbon dioxide. “By capturing carbon dioxide from Nucor’s Convent facility we’re helping one of the world’s leading steel producers make further progress toward carbon-reduction goals and advance lower-emissions steel production at scale,” ExxonMobil said.
This is the second CCS startup by ExxonMobil in 2026. In February, the company said that it had started transporting and storing carbon dioxide from the New Generation Gas Gathering (NG3) project in Louisiana. The NG3 Project takes natural gas produced in East Texas and Louisiana through the NG3 gathering system for treatment at the NG3 Gillis facility, where up to 1.2 million tpa of carbon dioxide is expected to be removed from the natural gas stream before the product is redelivered to Gulf Coast markets, including LNG facilities.
ExxonMobil’s CCS ambition got a further boost with the company saying that the permit for its Rose carbon storage project had “cleared another major hurdle, receiving approval from the Texas Railroad Commission.” Rose is a storage site in ExxonMobil’s CCS system, along the Gulf Coast. It will help provide dedicated storage capacity to support industrial customers in their emissions reduction goals, the company said.
Meanwhile Ineos Energy in partnership with Harbour Energy and the Danish North Sea Fund (Nordsøfonden) has opened the Greensand carbon dioxide storage facility, the European Union's first full-scale storage site. Greensand is expected to store up to 400 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually during its first commercial phase, with potential for up to 4–8 million tpa at full capacity.
David Bucknall, CEO of Ineos Energy, said: "For years, CCS in Europe has been defined by plans, targets and ambitions. Today, Greensand brings the EU’s first full-scale carbon dioxide storage site and value chain into operation. It provides a foundation on which future carbon capture projects across Europe can now build."
Ineos Energy said that it will source carbon dioxide primarily from Danish biomethane plants. This will allow the full CCS value chain to be established and operated using carbon dioxide volumes that are readily available, while capture projects across industry continue to develop and scale.
Once captured, carbon dioxide is liquefied, delivered by truck to a dedicated carbon dioxide terminal at Port Esbjerg, shipped aboard Carbon Destroyer 1 - the EU's first purpose-built carbon dioxide carrier - and injected into the Nini West reservoir, a depleted oil field some 250 kilometres offshore, approximately 1,800 metres beneath the seabed.
Further reading:
- CCS: Two carbon capture projects ready for construction
- Carbon capture: Major bio-CCS project gets the go ahead
- Carbon capture and storage: This major CCS project just got the green light
- CF Industries completes carbon capture and storage deal with ExxonMobil and EnLink
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