A groundbreaking Saskatchewan-based carbon storage initiative has earned international recognition. The Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) has been awarded the Suzanne West Environmental Excellence Award for its Aquistore project, located near Estevan’s Boundary Dam, at the Global Energy Show in Calgary.
Presented on June 12, the award highlights innovations and technologies that significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the energy industry. Aquistore was selected for its pioneering role in carbon capture and underground storage, becoming the first project in the world to store CO₂ captured from a coal-fired power plant.
The Aquistore project has stored more than 620,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in a deep saline aquifer 3,300 metres underground since it launched over a decade ago. It was developed alongside SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Carbon Capture Facility and serves as a permanent storage site for CO₂ not used for enhanced oil recovery in the Weyburn oil field.
“We were the first project in the world to store CO₂ from a coal-fired power plant,” said PTRC Director of Communications, Norm Sacuta, about the importance of the award. “There was a lot of interest globally in what it was we were doing. So, when we were nominated for this award, it was really a reflection of that global awareness of the Aquistore project.”
Sacuta noted that Aquistore has become a model for similar projects in Alberta and the United States, due to its long track record of safety and detailed research data on CO₂ monitoring.
Other nominees for the award included Alberta solar energy company Greengate and global oil and gas giant Saudi Aramco.
For Sacuta and the PTRC team, the win is more than symbolic; it’s practical. The recognition helps raise the profile of Saskatchewan’s leadership in carbon storage and bolsters the PTRC’s ability to attract research partnerships and funding from across Canada and abroad.
“We're enthusiastic because I think we may be drilling an additional well at Aquistore to do some more measurement and monitoring,” Sacuta added. “We’ve had the University of Regina, University of Alberta, and University of Saskatchewan all benefit from the money that we bring in for research.”