Shell's Canadian division has achieved the FID for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in Canada.  

The FID will see the development of the Polaris project at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park in Scotford, Alberta, as well as the Atlas Carbon Storage Hub, a 50-50 joint venture with ATCO EnPower. 

Polaris, which is entirely owned by Shell, is set to capture roughly 650,000tpa of CO₂ from Shell’s Scotford refinery and chemicals complex.  

This project is expected to slash scope 1 CO₂ emissions by up to 40% at the refinery and by up to 22% at the chemicals complex.  

The first phase of Atlas will serve as the storage site for CO₂ captured by Polaris. 

The captured CO₂ from Polaris will be transported via a 22km pipeline to the Atlas Hub, where it will be stored around 2km underground in the Basal Cambrian Sands.  

Shell said this geological formation is already utilised by the Quest CCS facility at Scotford, which has securely stored more than nine million tonnes of CO₂ since 2015. 

Both Polaris and Atlas are set to commence operations by the end of 2028.  

Shell downstream, renewable and energy solutions director Huibert Vigeveno said: "Carbon capture and storage is a key technology to achieve the Paris Agreement climate goals. The Polaris and Atlas projects are important steps in reducing emissions from our own operations.” 

Shell said it intends to invest $10bn–$15bn from 2023 to 2025 in low-carbon energy solutions including e-mobility, renewable power, hydrogen and CCS technologies. 

Last week, Shell Eastern Trading, another Shell subsidiary, signed an agreement to acquire Pavilion Energy from Carne Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek.