The Great Plains Synfuels Plant has two synthetic natural gas pipelines and two carbon dioxide pipelines. A synthetic natural gas pipeline that moves gas from the plant to a hub on the Northern Border Pipeline, and another delivers gas from the Synfuels Plant to Antelope Valley Station.
One carbon dioxide pipeline is operated by Souris Valley Pipeline, Ltd., a for-profit subsidiary of Dakota Gasification Company. This pipeline transports carbon dioxide captured at the plant and transports it to oil fields in Canada. The second is part of the Great Plains Sequestration Project.
Syngas pipeline
Dakota Gas owns and operates two synthetic natural gas (SNG) pipelines. A 35-mile pipeline delivers SNG from its Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, North Dakota, to the Northern Border Pipeline at the Hebron, North Dakota, metering station. The pipeline is a 24-inch carbon steel line that operates at a normal operating pressure of 1,300 PSIG.
Along the Northern Border Pipeline, there are eight recovered energy generation (REG) power plants "fueled" by hot exhaust with a total generating capacity of about 44 megawatts (MW). Each REG unit uses the hot exhaust gases from the compressor station to generate electricity. Basin Electric purchases the power from these units.
The second pipeline is a four-mile, 10-inch carbon steel pipeline that delivers SNG from the Synfuels Plant to Basin Electric's nearby Antelope Valley Station. Antelope Valley uses the gas as a start-up fuel.
Both of these pipelines operate with a maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) of 1,440 pounds per square inch (PSI).
Great Plains CO2 Sequestration Project
Basin Electric and Dakota Gas continue to be an industry leader on carbon capture utilization and storage solutions. In 2024, the Great Plains Synfuels Plant became home to one of the largest geologic CO2 sequestration projects in the world.
The Great Plains CO2 Sequestration Project went into service in mid-February 2024, and it’s expected the facility will capture up to 2.25 million metric tons of CO2 per year. The 6.8-mile pipeline crosses reclaimed mine land and other utility development that is owned by Basin Electric and The Coteau Properties Company, which operates the Freedom Mine.
The pipeline carries captured CO2 from the Great Plains Synfuels Plant to a permanent geologic storage reservoir adjacent to the facility, the Broom Creek sandstone formation. Broom Creek was deemed an ideal storage location because of its superior reservoir quality, depth, impermeable upper and lower confining zones, and expansive areal extent. Preliminary estimates suggest a maximum Broom Creek storage capacity exceeding 10 billion metric tons of CO2.
The Great Plains CO2 Sequestration Project is operating safely, and each individual well is performing better than the original modeling, which provides a favorable outlook for long-term economic return on investment.
Carbon dioxide pipeline
Dakota Gas delivers CO2 produced at the plant to customers and transports it through a 205-mile pipeline to Saskatchewan, Canada, to be used for enhanced oil recovery in the Weyburn field.
The first CO2 was sent to Canada in October 2000. Today, Dakota Gas exports up to 155 million cubic feet per day of CO2 to Canada - about two-thirds of the readily available CO2 when running at full rates.
Once the pipeline enters Canada it is known as the Souris Valley Pipeline for the area it passes through. Souris Valley Pipeline Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dakota Gas.
