Shell has announced the Final Investment Decision (FID) for Polaris, a carbon capture project at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park, Scotford in Alberta, Canada. Polaris is designed to capture approximately 650,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually from the Shell-owned Scotford refinery and chemicals complex.
In addition to the Polaris FID, Shell has also announced FID to proceed with the Atlas Carbon Storage Hub in partnership with ATCO EnPower. The first phase of Atlas will provide permanent underground storage for CO₂ captured by the Polaris project.
‘Carbon capture and storage is a key technology to achieve the Paris Agreement climate goals,’ says Huibert Vigeveno, Shell’s Downstream, Renewable and Energy Solutions Director. ‘The Polaris and Atlas projects are important steps in reducing emissions from our own operations.’
Polaris and Atlas will build on the success of the Quest carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility at Scotford, which has safely captured and stored more than nine million tonnes of CO₂ since 2015 that would otherwise have been released into the atmosphere.
Both projects are expected to begin operations toward the end of 2028.
