Power Coop to co-develop Carbon Capture & Storage project in North Dakota

Minnkota Power Cooperative and Summit Carbon Solutions have signed an agreement to co-develop CO2 storage facilities near Center, North Dakota.

Both companies have been working independently on CO2 storage facilities. Working together will enables them to advance their projects and bring them to commercial operations efficiently and cost-effectively.

Minnkota Power Cooperative has a project underway with Project Tundra, aimed at installing innovative carbon capture technologies at the coal-fired Milton R. Young Station in North Dakota. Summit Carbon Solutions is working carbon capture and storage from dozens of ethanol plants in the Upper Midwest.

The agreement will give Summit Carbon Solutions access to Minnkota’s CO2 storage site near Center, North Dakota. This site has a capacity of 100 million tons. The agreement will involve the development of a framework to jointly develop more CO2 storage resources surpassing storage capacity of 200 million tons.

Additionally, Summit Carbon Solutions is developing storage facilities in North Dakota that will permanently store an estimated 1 billion tons of CO2.

Once all the storage facilities developed under the agreement are operational, CO2 will be stored about 1 mile underground in suitable geologic formations. The geology has been studied and tested for safety.

“Summit Carbon Solutions is thrilled to team with Minnkota to accelerate our project and the decarbonization of biofuels and agriculture, which will greatly enhance the economic sustainability of those industries for decades to come,” said Wade Boeshans, Executive Vice President of Summit Carbon Solutions. “Working together, Summit Carbon Solutions and Minnkota will permanently and safely sequester tens of millions of tons of carbon dioxide every year, which will improve environmental outcomes while supporting industries critical to our region’s future.”

“We are joining two of North Dakota’s most prominent industries – agriculture and energy – to substantially lower CO2 emissions, while helping preserve American energy security,” said Mac McLennan, Minnkota President and CEO. “If our nation is to stay competitive during the energy transition, it will require multiple states and industries working together. Our hope is that this effort can serve as a blueprint for the collaborative thinking that is needed to drive energy innovation forward.”

Project Tundra was awarded a $6 million federal grant several years ago. It was jointly developed by Allete Clean Energy, Minnkota Power and BNI Coal in partnership with the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota (UND).