The Heartland Area Redwater CO2 Storage Project (HARP): Results of Phase I site characterization.

Abstract: The Heartland Area Redwater CO₂ Storage Project (HARP) is a staged CO₂ storage project located near Edmonton in the industrial heartland of Alberta, Canada. The project, being developed by ARC Resources Ltd. of Calgary, aims to store CO₂ captured from diverse sources into the very large Redwater Leduc Fm. carbonate reef situated at depths between 922 and 1234 m and with a thickness of up to 275 m. In the first stage, a pilot operation will be implemented by the spring of 2011 that will inject between 200 and 300 t CO₂/day. In the second stage, depending on the regulatory and economic environment, the pilot may be scaled up to a commercial-sized operation by 2015 that will inject at least 1 Mt CO₂/year. Each stage of the project has several phases, with Stage I/Phase I having been completed in the summer of 2009. Work focused on the characterization of the storage unit: Namely, the Redwater reef, its caprock, and the immediately underlying and overlying aquifers. In Stage I/Phase II, injection and monitoring wells will be drilled and site-specific characterization and pilot design will be completed, while at the same time seeking regulatory approval and community acceptance for the pilot operation. In Stage I/Phase III, the pilot operation will be constructed. A multi-disciplinary, multi-organizational research program comprising major research organizations and universities in western Canada is being built around this CO₂ storage project. This paper presents the results of Phase I of the project: Characterization of the storage unit and adjacent strata. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]