Alberta Carbon Grid (ACG)

The Alberta Carbon Grid^TM (ACG) is a world leading carbon transportation and sequestration solution being designed to serve multiple customers, industries, and sectors.

A partnership between Pembina Pipeline and TC Energy, the ACG is focused on providing CO₂ transportation and sequestration solutions across Alberta by leveraging both companies’ collective skills, experience, and extensive network of pipeline infrastructure.

ACG is exploring options to potentially create several hubs throughout the province that would be designed to independently collect and store CO₂ safely and cost-effectively from customers across multiple industries. ACG’s long-term vision is to annually transport and store up to 20 million tonnes of CO₂ through several hubs across Alberta.

The ACG Industrial Heartland project is the first hub and current focus – this project was recently selected by the Government of Alberta to further evaluate the proposed location for safely storing carbon.

The solution

ACG’s long-term vision is to transport and store up to 20 million tonnes of CO2 annually through multiple hubs across Alberta – almost 10 percent of Alberta’s industrial emissions – contributing toward Canada’s enhanced climate targets.

The ACG Industrial Heartland project is the first hub and current focus. This project will be developed in phases with the potential capability of transporting and storing up to 10 million tonnes of CO2 annually when fully developed.

The counterparty

Pembina Pipeline Corporation

The deal

Collaboratively develop world leading carbon transportation and sequestration solutions across Alberta. Read the June 17, 2021 news release.

ACG Highlights

• Carbon Capacity: The open-access solution is being designed with the long-term vision to scale up to 60,000 tonnes per day of capacity, or 20 million tonnes per annum through multiple hubs across Alberta, representing approximately 10 percent of Alberta's industrial emissions.
• Interconnectivity: TC Energy and Pembina view the ACG as a multi-sector solution with interconnectivity between multiple key hubs for expanded emissions reductions.
• Environment, Cost and Time Benefits: Utilizing existing assets and rights-of-ways, in addition to new infrastructure, accelerates timing, greatly reduces cumulative environmental and community impacts, and is less capital intensive.
• Economic Development: The construction and operation of the ACG, along with other investments in CCUS technology and infrastructure, will create an entirely new business platform for each company and create new high-value jobs and support economic growth across Alberta.
• Safe & Reliable Operations: World-leading experts have been engaged to evaluate technical and operating conditions of using existing pipeline systems to transport CO₂. The companies have the skills and experience to safely operate these kinds of systems as the characteristics of CO₂ are similar to other products which are safely transported today, such as natural gas. The completed feasibility study demonstrates that ACG is achievable while maintaining high standards of safety and reliability. The companies have been working with regulators to advance the Project.
• Customer-Focused Solution: Open-access system with multiple receipt points tailored to customers sequestration needs.
• Cost Advantaged, Transparent Commercial Framework: The full build out of ACG represents the potential for a multi-billion-dollar incremental investment by TC Energy and Pembina over time, sustained by a commercial framework comprised of long-term fee-for-service contracts plus a marketing and trading pool to facilitate CO₂ and carbon offset transactions. At the scale proposed and by repurposing existing assets, use of the vast infrastructure in place by both companies in Alberta and use of right-of-ways, the tolls on the ACG will be materially less than the current price of carbon in Alberta, ensuring the ACG’s long-term competitive viability as a CCUS solution, one that results in an extremely attractive value proposition for customers.
• Sequestration: TC Energy and Pembina bring experience with sequestration, underground cavern storage and acid gas and water disposal across our collective asset base.
• Platform for Diversification: Longer term, ACG creates a new platform with a growing reach across Alberta to facilitate production of blue hydrogen and enhance petrochemical facilities in the future, benefiting the Alberta economy, as well as TC Energy and Pembina shareholders.

Project News

• Oct 18, 2022: Alberta Carbon Grid secures rights to evaluate one of the largest carbon storage areas available under the Carbon Sequestration Tenure Management
• Mar 31, 2022: Alberta Carbon Grid selected to move forward
• Mar 31, 2022 : Safely reducing emissions in the Industrial Heartland | alberta.ca
• Nov 5 2021: Government of Alberta announces CCUS as a key pillar for the growth of a new hydrogen economy
• Jun 17 2021: Pembina and TC Energy Partner to Create World-Scale Carbon Transportation and Sequestration Solution: The Alberta Carbon Grid