Homegrown carbon capture tech that’s found niche in oilsands gets fresh funding
by Cleantech Canada Staff
The novel adsorption method captures carbon dioxide from flue gas streams. It will be put to the test in a large-scale pilot at Husky's Pikes Peak facility
The company has been piloting a small version of its technology at Husky’s Pikes Peak facility since early 2017. PHOTO: Inventys
VANCOUVER—A Canadian cleantech company currently testing a new type of carbon capture technology in Alberta’s oilsands has got a fresh investment from the federal government.
B.C.-based Inventys said last week Natural Resources Canada has committed $2.3 million in funding to a larger version of the company’s carbon capture system at Husky Energy’s Pikes Peak South Lloyd thermal project.
The funds bring the total investment in the CO2 capture plant to $22.3 million—a figure that includes $10 million from Husky Energy, The Roda Group, and Chrysalix Venture Capital.
The project will scale up the tech to 30-tonnes per day. PHOTO: Inventys
Inventys has been testing its carbon capture system at Husky’s oilsands facility on a small scale since early this year. Currently, the pilot project captures 0.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per day, but the tens of millions in new funding will allow the company to greatly expand the project’s scope.
The scaled-up version will capture 30 tonnes per day.
“It’s the perfect setting to prove our breakthrough carbon capture technology and uphold Canada’s climate goals,” said Claude Letourneau, the company’s president and CEO.
“This project is a cornerstone of our aggressive time-to-market strategy in a beachhead market,” he added. “It represents an ideal case of CO2 source-to-sink matching with a single energy provider and a revenue model for monetizing the CO2.”
Based in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, Inventys’ new technology is able to capture CO2 from flue gas streams. It uses solid adsorbent materials that cause the greenhouse gas to adhere and separate from flue gas.
At the oilsands project, the technology will capture CO2 from a steam generator used in the steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process.
Along with preventing the CO2 from being released, the system will allow the captured carbon dioxide to be injected underground, improving the oil recovery process.
Inventys expects to commission the new system in fall 2018.
