ACT4 CALL NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS

In collaboration with the international initiative, Accelerating CCS Technologies (ACT), ERA is committing $2.85 million to facilitate the deployment of CCUS technologies. The total funds available for this global funding program is $19 million and is open to projects in participating countries: Germany, India, Norway, United States, or Canada. ERA funding is sourced from the Government of Alberta’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund.

HOW TO APPLY

The deadline to apply is Monday, September 12, 2022, before 5 a.m. (MT). Late applications will not be accepted. Applicants must submit their applications to the ACT’s Secretariat and all partners require supplementary information at the national level. Proposals must be submitted as a single PDF file via email at act-ccs@rcn.no. The proposals must adhere to the template provided in Annex 2 of the ACT4 Call Guidelines. The Supplemental Information Template, the Project Budget Template, and appendices must be submitted via email to ERA Applications at applications@eralberta.ca.

Click the links below for more details:

• ACT 4 Call Guidelines
• Supplemental Information Template
• ERA Eligible Expenses and Cost Instructions
• Project Budget Template

ABOUT THE CALL               

Through the $19 million ACT4 Call, ERA is seeking innovative CCUS technologies with strong potential for commercialization in Alberta. Successful projects must enable the emergence of CCUS in the energy and industrial sectors with results ranging from reduced operational costs and lowered emissions to new technology, safe storage, and the optimization of existing infrastructure. Funding is available for projects at the technology scale-up, field pilot, commercial demonstration, or commercial implementation stages.

Project proposals require a project consortium consisting of at least two eligible applicants from at least two countries/regions participating in ACT4 Call. Consortia with partners from other countries are welcome if these organizations are funded by sources other than ACT. This partnership requirement demonstrates international collaboration and is a way for countries to leverage new knowledge, expertise, and resources.

FOCUS AREAS

Projects of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Carbon capture: production of a pure CO₂ stream from combustion and/or processes at the point of emissions.
• Carbon capture and transportation networks: integrated approaches combining multiple capture points and transportation infrastructure to link multiple specific capture sites to a common network.
• Direct carbon conversion: implementation of a process that directly absorbs carbon into a product at the point of emissions such as the creation of CO₂-based products (e.g., fuels, chemicals, building materials).
• Permanent Storage: captured CO₂ is transported to a geological storage site and then injected deep underground where it is permanently stored.
• Utilization to Storage via Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)/Enhanced Gas Recovery (EGR): the captured CO₂ is transported to an oil-field and is used to stimulate more oil production, with the CO₂ then being stored in the oil-depleted reservoir.
• Clean Hydrogen Production: low-carbon hydrogen production from fossil sources combined with CCUS.
• Carbon dioxide removal (CDR):
  • Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS)/ Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS): utilisation of biomass as an energy source and the capture and permanent storage of CO₂produced during the conversion of biomass to energy.
  • Direct Air Capture (DAC): production of pure CO₂ stream from ambient air.
• In-situ carbon mineralization: CO₂ captured, compressed, and stored in reactive geologic formations where CO₂in the fluid form mineralizes to produce water-insoluble calcium or magnesium carbonates, such as in basalts offshore. 

APPROVAL PROCESS

All proposals will undergo a rigorous one-stage evaluation process:

• Full Proposal Review: National/regional funding bodies will evaluate the full proposals that have been submitted to determine their suitability, evaluate them based on the primary and regional criteria, and rank them by a team of subject matter experts. ERA will use its standard review process for the evaluation of these full proposals by conducting an independent, rigorous, transparent review overseen by a Fairness Monitor. The final funding decision will be made by the relevant funding bodies based on the ranking and approval of the ACT consortium’s individual funding organizations. ERA will use its standard approval process for final funding decisions.
• Project Execution: Successful applicants are required to enter into a legal agreement with their respective national/regional funding organizations (e.g., Alberta companies with ERA, Norwegian companies with RCN, etc.). For each approved project, the entire consortium of applicant partners must have a signed agreement detailing the internal organization and management of the consortium, intellectual property arrangements, and settlement of internal disputes.

Projects will be evaluated based on three primary criteria, in addition to national/regional funding organization criteria:

• Excellence: dealing with the overall fit within the scope of the call, credibility of the technology, scientific merit, ambition and innovation potential, trans-national cooperation within the CCUS community, and relevance and clarity of overall objectives.
• Impact: underscoring the importance of the results of the project, expected contribution to the advancement of CCUS, impact on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), and industrial relevance.
• Quality and Efficiency: including a coherent and effective project plan, appropriate budget allocation, risk management procedures, and team capability.

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP

In 2020, ERA announced a partnership with the global initiative to invest in world-class innovation that can lead to safe and cost-effective CCUS technologies. ACT is coordinated by the Research Council of Norway (RCN) and is a collaboration of 15 research and innovation funding organizations from 16 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and others. Alberta, through ERA, is the first sub-national member.

The ACT consortium has established itself as a strong multinational funding approach for research and innovation dedicated CCUS, an area of intense global interest as a key emissions reduction opportunity for the large industrial sector: power generation, cement production, oil and gas, manufacturing, and more.

In addition to leveraging international funding for CCUS initiatives, the partnership with innovation organizations around the world represents a significant opportunity for future collaboration and knowledge sharing. All projects will present their goals and plans at the Annual ACT Knowledge Sharing Workshop and all recipients are required to produce a final outcomes report that will be shared publicly for the broader benefit of Alberta.

Through the consortium’s previous funding opportunity, ACT3 Call, ERA committed over $2 million to four Alberta-led projects worth almost $24 million, including Carbonova Corp, Carbon Management Canada, and two projects from the University of Alberta.