Submission to the Alberta electric grid operator’s annual Cluster Assessment Process is an early step in the thorough regulatory process to approve Captus’s planned clean power hub
October 17, 2024, Calgary, AB – Captus Generation has completed an important regulatory process step by submitting a System Access Service Request (SASR) to the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO). AESO uses the SASR process to evaluate the impact of proposed new electricity generation projects on the transmission grid. In Alberta, all new or expanded power generation projects greater than 5 megawatts (MW) are subject to this process.
Under the new Cluster Assessment Process, proposed projects are grouped, or clustered, and assessed together by AESO once every 12 to 15 months. The Captus SASR application is included in Cluster 2, which has a submission deadline of October 18, 2024. While the details of the submitted Captus SASR are preliminary, the company opted to submit its application now rather than risk significant project delays by waiting for submissions to the next grouping, Cluster 3, to be evaluated in 24-30 months.
Captus has asked AESO to assess a potential generation capacity of up to 440MW. The company’s plans are evolving, and the first phase of development could be less than half this size. However, Captus is seeking to minimize the impact of the cluster process on project development timelines at this early stage.
AESO anticipates that the results of the Cluster 2 assessment process will be known in approximately 14 months. In parallel, Captus will continue advancing technical work and commercial negotiations to secure agreements that will underpin the project. The next major project milestones are a final investment decision (FID) and regulatory application to the Alberta Utilities Commission, currently expected in the second half of 2025.
The project will deploy high-efficiency natural gas turbines to generate electricity on an industrial site owned by Captus, located approximately 20 km south of Pincher Creek. Captus will also use carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology to store the associated carbon emissions permanently and safely deep underground, in a rock formation that formerly contained natural gas.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please email [email protected].
About Captus Generation
Captus Generation is a Calgary-based company with a vision for sustainable energy development south of Pincher Creek. Captus is a subsidiary of BTG Energy, a Canadian company that owns and operates strategically located energy infrastructure across Central and Southern Alberta. Established in early 2024, Captus Generation plans to build a full-scale, natural gas-fired expandable power plant with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) on a non-agricultural industrial site approximately 20 kilometres south of Pincher Creek, Alberta. Captus is led by a team of energy industry veterans with more than a century of diverse experience in the midstream and upstream energy sectors in Canada and the United States. To learn more, visit www.captusgeneration.com.