FortisBC: Compact Carbon Capture Challenge
FortisBC sought solutions for capturing relatively small amounts of CO2 from a variety of geographic areas within Canada to use or sequester.
CHALLENGE LAUNCH: JUNE 2023
Advancing Carbon Capture in Canada
carbonNEXT and FortisBC, sought solutions that could remove small amounts of CO2 from areas all across Canada while contributing to Foresight Canada and FortisBC’s ultimate goal—moving the needle to a more sustainable future.
After a rigorous application review, FortisBC selected CarbonQuest and Cielo Carbon Solutions as the challenge winners for their capacity to capture 43 tonnes of carbon per day—equivalent of removing up to 3,000 cars from the road per year.
Read more about this Challenge below.
Challenge Statement & Opportunity
Challenge Statement: FortisBC was seeking solutions for capturing relatively small amounts of CO2 from a variety of geographic areas within Canada, and dealing with it in an economic manner.
FortisBC is committed to a lower-carbon energy future and the advancement of technologies that will meaningfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the delivery and use of natural gas in BC.
Engaging FortisBC through this challenge could lead to one of the following opportunities:
- A proponent conducting a pilot of their solution with FortisBC;
- FortisBC not pursuing the proposal;
- Another pathway as mutually agreed.
During the timeframe of the Challenge, FortisBC may have also been interested in supporting opportunities to advance research and development of pre-commercial technologies of particular interest identified through the Challenge. This would most likely occur under an application for project funding to FortisBC’s Clean Growth Innovation Fund.
Solution and Winners
A successful solution needed to be:
- Applicable for emissions sources ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 tonne CO2e/yr;
- Applied to existing brownfield equipment;
- Ideally modular in design, allowing the solution to be scaled as required;
- Has a minimal footprint;
- Able to accommodate limited availability of electricity at some compression and line heating emissions site.
CarbonQuest (Spokane, WA) and Cielo Carbon Solutions (Victoria, BC) teamed up to deliver a solid adsorbent capture technology that is designed to work in remote locations on both combustion and biogas applications.
The modularity and scalability of the solution enable the selection of the optimal standard product offering across a range of project types that meet all the requirements of this program.
"We applaud Foresight and FortisBC for leading a challenge in the distributed carbon capture space, and are honored to have been selected as a winner for the Compact Carbon Capture Challenge.
Our carbon capture technology will not only help to reduce emissions in the province, but will help British Columbia properties meet their carbon tax requirements — all while supporting a circular carbon economy."
Industry Partner
FortisBC is the largest natural gas distribution utility in British Columbia, providing sales and transportation services to over 1 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in 135 communities and 58 First Nations communities across 150 Traditional Territories in British Columbia. FortisBC delivers natural and renewable gases to more than 80 per cent of the gas customers in British Columbia through a network of approximately 50,500 kilometres of gas distribution lines. Additionally, FortisBC operates two liquified natural gas storage facilities in BC.
FortisBC supports cleantech innovation through a number of initiatives, including through their Clean Growth Innovation Fund, which enables them to provide grant funding to support the development of innovative GHG emissions-reducing projects and technologies.
"At FortisBC, we are committed to finding new, innovative technologies that will push us towards our climate goals while meeting the energy needs of the homes and businesses we serve.
This Innovation Challenge allowed us to do just that—we were able to identify a key barrier within our sustainability efforts, and have found a powerful solution that could be a game changer in helping us achieve a low-carbon future."
Evaluation & Eligibility:
Key assessment and eligibility criteria included:
- Feasibility
- Scalability
- Cost-effectiveness
- Deployability across FortisBC’s service territory
- Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5+
Applicants from anywhere in the world were eligible to apply.
Upon request, FortisBC could provide specific information related to the location, emission profiles, and electrical capacity for the potential emission sites to which proposed solutions may be applicable. A non-disclosure agreement may be required.
Challenge Updates
July 2024: FortisBC working with the Winners to
- Receive FortisBC support in the development of an NGIF application, with FortisBC potentially acting as a host demonstration site;
- Work with FortisBC to develop a request for Expressions of Interest from customers who might be interested in adopting your solution at their facility. FortisBC might provide funding to support the installation;
- Assess the opportunity for a pilot with FortisBC.
October 2023: Winners Announced
FortisBC selected CarbonQuest and Cielo Carbon Solutions for their single, common technology platform that meets the diverse needs of both the combustion and biogas components outlined in the Challenge.
The CarbonQuest distributed carbon capture solution is applicable to both natural gas combustion and biogas applications. The technology footprint has been designed to accommodate a range of standard sizes that can deliver one to 43 tons of capture capacity per day from a wide range of CO2 concentrations (3-65 per cent).
The modularity and scalability of the solution enables the technology to be deployed across a variety of project applications. The technology is designed to use standard shipping practices so it can be deployed and operational within days.
The solution uses highly advanced technology and solid adsorbents that are inherently low maintenance. The embedded software autonomously controls the system allowing for unattended operations in remote environments. Leveraging a common technology across the utility portfolio will lower overall operations and maintenance costs for the remote distributed locations.
June 2023: Challenge Launches
Canada has proven time and time again to be a leader in CCUS technologies. I’m thrilled to see industry leaders like FortisBC continuing their support and investment into powerful, made-in-Canada CCUS solutions that will help drive them towards their sustainability goals. I look forward to seeing the impact of this impressive innovation!
Our Partners
This Challenge is presented as a part of the carbonNEXT program, a partnership between Foresight and Carbon Management Canada, powered by Scotiabank and Prairies Economic Development Canada.
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