In 1999, Basin Electric invested more than $100 million to build the infrastructure and pipeline that now delivers carbon dioxide produced at Dakota Gas to Saskatchewan, Canada where companies use it for enhanced oil recovery operations.
Photo from August 1999 Basin Today showing that, "each weld is X-rayed to ensure quality control. If flaws are revealed, the defective weld is cut out and the pipe is beveled. Then the joint is welded and X-rayed again. The X-ray films are kept for the life of the pipeline. A crew follows to apply a layer of fusion-binded epoxy coating to each weld to prevent corrosion and to touch up any nicks in the coating."
The August 1999 issue of Basin Today talks about the construction of this project in the story, “CO2 pipeline construction report – from the trenches”:
“Since the May 12 groundbreaking, an assembly-line operation has been moving along at about two miles a day. As of Aug. 2, 60 percent of the pipeline construction in the United States was completed. The entire pipe is expected to be in the ground by Oct. 1. A period of hydro testing will follow to check the pipeline for leaks. Then the line will be dried to a dewpoint of -50 degrees F to prepare it for placement into service.”
Photo from August 1999 Basin Today showing pipe bending. "The pipe is bent on-site to conform to the meandering trench (both horizontally and vertically) by a machine designed for that purpose."
The first CO2 was sent to Canada in fall 2000. Dakota Gas currently exports up to 155 million cubic feet of CO2 per day to Canada – about two-thirds of the readily-available CO2 when running at full rates.
The Basin Electric board of directors at the CO2 pipeline groundbreaking in 1999.
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