CALGARY — Imperial Oil recently announced it has started facility construction of the Strathcona Renewable Diesel project, with key contractors mobilizing to the site.
The project is designed to produce more than one billion litres of renewable diesel annually, primarily from locally sourced feedstocks.
The announcement was included in the company’s Q2 financial and operating results report issued July 28. Production from the northern Alberta project is expected to begin in early 2025.
The renewable diesel production process will utilize blue hydrogen, which is produced from natural gas with carbon capture and storage, explained a release. Production of blue hydrogen has been shown to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventionally produced hydrogen.
Imperial Oil also announced it has finished drilling and completion of all wells and received the final unit module for the Cold Lake Grand Rapids phase 1 (GRP1) project in northern Alberta. GRP1 will be the first solvent-assisted SAGD (steam assisted gravity drainage) project in the industry and is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity by up to 40 per cent compared to existing cyclic steam stimulation technology.
The project remains on track to achieve accelerated start-up with steam injection anticipated by year end 2023 said Imperial Oil.
Meanwhile, early work continues on the carbon storage hub project for the Pathways Alliance, which is now working to obtain a carbon sequestration agreement from the Government of Alberta. Engineering and field work is underway to support a regulatory application later this year.
Imperial is a founding member of the alliance, which continues to work with both the federal and Alberta governments on policy and co-financing frameworks.
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