Mark Tonner speaking in Grande Prairie in September of 2018.

By Curtis Galbraith

Local Business

Deal with Enhance Energy right thing to do says Nauticol Energy CEO

Mar 25, 2021 | 5:30 AM

The CEO of Nauticol Energy describes a new carbon capture deal with Enhance Energy as enormous for his company’s Grande Prairie methanol plant proposal and believes it is the right thing to do.

Mark Tonner believes this plus the project design allows Nauticol to become what he calls a global leader in emissions for a world-scale plant.

“It’s critically important in attracting capital. It’s critically important in getting social license. It’s critically important in terms of positioning Canada right at the leading edge of energy space in the world. We were already going to be one of the lowest emitters of CO2 in the world for world-scale methanol production. This completely changes the game.”

He thinks this will act as a catalyst for other industries.

“It will create infrastructure at a million tonnes a year of CO2 capture. It allows the economics to happen to build a robust carbon-capture system in and around the Grande Prairie area that others would not have the size to do on their own.”

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The two companies announced the deal on Tuesday. Nauticol will capture the carbon dioxide produced by the plant. Enhance will build and manage an off-site sequestration system.

Tonner says other operations like gas plants can access a system they would not otherwise have available.

He adds the methanol produced at the plant would be used as an energy source.

“The huge push right now is coming in marine transport. Large companies like Maersk (a shipping company based in Denmark) and others recently, in just the last few weeks, have made announcements that their new boats that they will be designing and bringing online will use methanol as one of their fuel sources. Methanol burns cleaner (and) has an enormous reduction in particulate matter emission.”

Plans have the $2.6 billion plat to be built near the International Paper and Weyerhaeuser mills south of Grande Prairie being operational in 2025.

It would run on natural gas produced in the Peace Country.