FOIP Release - Closed Meeting Notes - CCUS, Med Hat Substation 11 and More
By Kelly Allard
Feb 3 2022 Energy and Infrastructure Committee Meeting - the closed portion should’ve been redacted .
Highlights
Medicine Hat Express (gas pipeline)
i Cost estimates $200-300 million from ATCO (Bow Island)
ii. Rockpointe Storage Facility $200-$250 million. They will cover that cost, but we have to enter into a long-term agreement.
iii. Surface option storage - might be a cheaper option
etc
A site for Medicine Hat Substation #11
“the games continue”
CCUS (Carbon Capture and Underground Storage)
“Caution committee that we will explore it but it might not be the dream we think it is. We can't bankrupt the City on a technology that may not be the solution.”
Hydrogen
Hydrogen fueling station took a hit: Hyundai is no longer producing hydrogen vehicles, focusing on electric
Unit 17
plaque and ribbon cutting
Recording names of public attendees
I find this very concerning.
This was a public meeting in a public place. I was a private citizen; it was months before I started working with Community TV. When people attend Council meetings in person or online, nobody is taking names. They could’ve said “one member of the media and one member of the public” but they chose to record our names.
(I suppose I should be grateful. If they didn’t record my name, I wouldn’t have been sent this document.)
Closed meeting notes
1. MD Verbal
a. Medicine Hat Express
i. Cost estimates $200-300 million from ATCO (Bow Island)
ii. Rockpointe Storage Facility $200-$250 million. They will cover that cost, but we have to enter into a long-term agreement.
iii. Surface option storage - might be a cheaper optioniv. No UROW from Bow Island to Medicine Hat
v. TC Energy would consider twinning $20-30 million
vi. This will hook us on carbon for a very, very long time.
vii. Brad will bring a map of how TC Energy services us on a map
viii. AVD - wouldn't we rather invest that kind of money into wind and solar? Brad - yes, but people have gas furnaces
ix. Electric furnace retrofit? We have to still investigate
x. Clark: Up and coming, breakthrough technologies.
xi. Brad: Heat pumps only get homes to 16-17 degrees in our climate.
xii. $8,000-$20,000 to retrofit your home to a heat pump and they don't last more than 15 years.
xiii. We would also have to up the 100-amp homes. So, already a significant upgrade cost.
b. MH-11 - the games continue
i. Recommending site 1 - Highway 3
1. Owner has sold land to a numbered U.S. company
2. Likely going to be expropriation
ii. Site 2 - exorbitant price
iii. Site 1 is $2 million cheaper than Site 2
c. CCUS (Carbon Capture and Underground Storage) application was submitted on time for grant funding
i. Pays for preparatory work for carbon sequestering
ii. 30-40% capture is all we think we can obtain. We would still be exposed to 60% paying carbon tax.
iii. Brad believes that we should concentrate on renewables with battery storage to reduce our carbon production and pay the tax
iv. Caution committee that we will explore it but it might not be the dream we thinkit is. We can't bankrupt the City on a technology that may not be the solution.
v. Energy future is complicated. Energy future is expensive - 4-5 times more than today
vi. Carbon dioxide is very corrosive - requires a very hardened steel that increases costs. We can accommodate huge volumes of CO2 but it has to be compressed. Injected 2 km under surface. 15,000 pounds per square inch.
vii. Can't utilize our shallow or deep gas wells. Need to drill new. Have to pay surface rental above facility. Contributes to high cost of this technology.
viii. Pembina and TC Energy are working on a carbon trunkline.
d. Hydrogen
i. Brad is presenting to APEGA as keynote
ii. Hydrogen fueling station took a hit: Hyundai is no longer producing hydrogen vehicles, focusing on electric
iii. CP Rail and heavy trucking industry are still considering hydrogen
e. Unit 17 - four weeks out. Workforce issues with omicron.
i. Plaque is being prepared
ii. Ribbon cutting
Meeting Notes, closed portion outlined in red. The yellow highlighting is from the City.
#yxh #medicinehat #ccus #comtv #thetrashpanda #communitytv #naturalgas #hydrogen #mhs11 #unit17 #foip
