Dakota Gas receives award for carbon capture project

Dakota Gasification Company (Dakota Gas), a subsidiary of Basin Electric, received the Excellence in Innovation Award for its Great Plains CO₂ Sequestration Project. The award was presented in January at the Energy and Environmental Research Center’s (EERC) Energy Progress and Innovations Conference in Bismarck, North Dakota. EERC chose to recognize the carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture project because of Dakota Gas’ dedication and commitment to excellence in innovation.

When the Great Plains CO₂ Sequestration Project went into service in mid-February 2024, Dakota Gas became home to the largest geologic sequestration project in the world. It is expected the facility will capture up to 2.25 million metric tons of CO₂ per year.

Dakota Gas captures and sequesters CO₂ via a permanent geologic storage reservoir adjacent to the facility, the Broom Creek sandstone formation. The project is operating safely, and each individual well is performing better than anticipated, which provides a favorable outlook for long-term economic return on investment.

Kurt Dutchuk, pipeline superintendent at Dakota Gas, played an integral role in the project and accepted the award on behalf of the plant.

“This project was by far the highlight of my 28-year career with Dakota Gas,” Dutchuk said. “Shortly after start-up, we were declared the largest CO₂ project in the world. That was a very proud moment for all involved.”

Dutchuk believes the talent and vast experience of the start-up team are what made the project go smoothly.

“This award makes me proud because it reminds me of the team we put together to make this happen. From the first exploration well drilled to the first day we injected CO₂ into the well, the group of people involved from Dakata Gas, Basin Electric, Carbon Vault (a Colorado-based contractor), and all the contractors were second to none in this industry,” Dutchuk said.

Dale Johnson, Dakota Gas plant manager, echoed Dutchuk’s comments that Dakota Gas’ project partners helped make the project a success.

“Our partners, Carbon Vault and EERC, provided their experience and expertise on the wells and the geology to help design and operate this system with the utmost focus on long-term safety. The project recently exceeded over 1.5 million metric tons of CO₂ sequestered, which is a testament to the quality of this project and the focus that Dakota Gas employees have put into it.”

Johnson said it was gratifying to be recognized by peers and industry partners for this accomplishment and stressed the important work being done at Dakota Gas.

“I believe there will continue to be pressure to reduce carbon emissions in this country, so I am very proud that Dakota Gas is helping lead this effort in North Dakota. Dakota Gas has been operating a CO₂ pipeline for many years, but this was still a complex project with unique regulatory requirements. The Dakota Gas team leaned on our experience to successfully construct, start-up, and operate the new pipeline, and we couldn’t have done it without the support of Basin Electric Engineering, Finance, Legal, Marketing, and others,” Johnson said.