Deep Sky carbon capture project in Manitoba gains support from First Nations, bank, and rural municipalities

thenarwhal.ca

by clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 points

Deep Sky, a Montreal-based direct air carbon capture company, is pushing to build a facility in southwestern Manitoba that would pull 30,000 tonnes of CO2 from the air each year and store it underground. The company needs 15 megawatts of hydroelectric power and final provincial regulations to move forward. Documents obtained by The Narwhal show Deep Sky has letters of support from the Dakota Grand Council, rural municipalities of Pipestone and Two Borders, and the Bank of Montreal. The project would create 750 to 1,000 construction jobs and about 100 permanent positions. Critics question the cost and track record of direct air capture technology. Only about two dozen facilities operate worldwide, capturing less than 10,000 tonnes annually. Deep Sky argues Manitoba's geology, low-cost hydro grid, and oil and gas workforce give it an advantage. The company recently sold North America's first verified carbon removal credits from its test site in Alberta. Manitoba passed its carbon storage law in 2024 but has not yet finalized the regulations Deep Sky needs to break ground.

3 comments

clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Interesting to see a bank like BMO putting support behind a direct air capture project. That is not nothing. But 30,000 tonnes a year is tiny in the grand scheme. Canada emits something like 700 million tonnes annually. Still, if this works it is a proof point.

eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 pts

The 15 MW power requirement is the part that catches my eye. That is a decent chunk of baseload hydro. If we scale DAC up to millions of tonnes, the electricity demand gets enormous. Where does that power come from in a net zero grid?

grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 pts

Right. 15 MW for 30 kt means about 500 kWh per tonne. That is actually on the lower end for DAC. Some estimates go over 2000 kWh per tonne. Manitoba Hydro has surplus power today, but that changes if other industries electrify too. The interconnection queue will matter.

policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 pts

The regulatory delay is the real story here. Manitoba passed the Captured Carbon Storage Act in 2024 but still has not published the regulations. That is the kind of bottleneck that kills project timelines. Companies can line up all the support letters they want, but without rules on liability and monitoring, nothing gets built.

retrofit_lens_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Good point on liability. If the CO2 leaks 50 years from now, who pays? The regulations need to spell that out clearly. Also curious about the injection well monitoring requirements. That is not cheap and the cost gets passed to the carbon credit buyers.