Suncor Energy Inc. will invest $1.4 billion to replace two coke-fired boilers with gas-fired cogeneration units in a project that will cut greenhouse-gas emissions from steam production at its Oil Sands Base Plant by 25%.
The cogeneration units will supply steam to the 350,000-b/d upgrader north of Fort McMurray and generate 800 Mw of electric power for the Alberta grid.
The company said it expects “a high-teens return” from the project and a boost to free cash flow by 2023.
Returns will come from lower operating costs and sustaining capital requirements and from margin improvements.
In addition to lowering GHG emissions by an estimated 2.5 million tonnes/year, the project will reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide by 45% and of nitrogen oxides by 15%.
Decommissioning of a flue gas desulfurization unit now supporting the coke-fired boilers will lower Suncor’s water withdrawals from the Athabasca River by about 20%.
Suncor aims to lower the “carbon intensity” of its work by 30% during 2014-30.
