SaskPower's Carbon Capture Project Draws Global Interest

ESTEVAN, Sask. - Saskatchewan's power utility is heralding its carbon capture and storage project, touted as the world's first commercial-scale operation of its kind.

SaskPower says more than 250 people from at least 20 countries attended the opening of the $1.4-billion project Thursday.

It will take carbon-capture emissions released by the Boundary Dam power plant near Estevan and release the gas deep underground using a steel pipeline for storage.

Premier Brad Wall said the project helps curb greenhouse gas emissions while creating affordable energy.

Critics of the technology argue that it doesn't effectively address environmental concerns because it justifies the burning of fossil fuels..

The aim is to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by one million tonnes annually, which amounts to 90 per cent of the emissions from the power plant.