Project Spotlight: Open Access Wabamun Carbon Hub
- Jul 10
- 3 min read
The Wabamun Carbon Hub is a proposed carbon transportation and storage project west and north of Edmonton, Alberta, being developed by Enbridge to serve large-scale industrial CO2 capture projects. Once built, five Indigenous communities — four Treaty 6 First Nations organized through the First Nation Capital Investment Partnership, and the Lac Ste. Anne Métis Community Association — are positioned to co-own an interest in the Hub's transportation and storage infrastructure.
Project Overview
Wabamun Hub is designed to capture CO2 from nearby industrial emitters and transport it for permanent underground storage in deep saline reservoirs, on an open-access basis available to other emitters in the region. The Government of Alberta awarded Enbridge evaluation rights in March 2022 across approximately 220,000 hectares west and north of Edmonton, spanning two target storage formations: the Basal Sandstone Unit (2,300–3,300 metres depth) and the Nisku formation (1,550–2,200 metres depth). Evaluation wells were drilled near Warburg (2023) and north of Carbondale (2023–2024), and in October 2025 Enbridge signed a carbon sequestration agreement for the Basal Sandstone Unit within the Hub's roughly 150,000-hectare North Area. Further regulatory approvals are still required before any CO2 injection can begin.
Project Details
Location: Wabamun area near Edmonton, Alberta
Technology: CO2 transportation and permanent underground storage
Status: In development with target in service date of 2027
Industry Partner: Enbridge Inc.
Indigenous Partners: Letters of Intent signed with Alexander First Nation, Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, Enoch Cree Nation, Paul First Nation, and the Lac Ste. Anne Métis Community Association
Indigenous Ownership
The First Nation Capital Investment Partnership was formed by four Treaty 6 Nations specifically to pursue ownership positions in major infrastructure projects alongside commercial partners. Letters of Intent were signed with all five participating communities in February 2022, establishing the opportunity for the Nations and the Lac Ste. Anne Métis Community Association to co-own an interest in the Hub's CO2 transportation and storage infrastructure once it is built. As of the Hub's most recent public milestones, this remains a co-ownership commitment tied to project completion rather than a closed equity transaction
"We see Indigenous economic partnerships like this as critical to advancing reconciliation and delivering world-class projects." Colin Gruending, Enbridge
Financial Details
In Summer 2025, the Wabamun Hub was awarded support from Natural Resources Canada's Energy Innovation Program for a CO2 storage development and optimization project characterizing the deep saline reservoirs. The federally supported optimization project's stated objectives include generating $6–8 million in annual gross cash flow for Indigenous Partners over 25 years. Overall Hub capital costs and a final investment decision have not yet been publicly disclosed.
Why This Project Matters
The Wabamun Hub marks a unique project with the potential for Indigenous equity participation extending into CCS. Most tracked Indigenous energy ownership sits in generation, energy storage, or transmission; Wabamun signals co-ownership models expanding into carbon capture and storage infrastructure as Canada's CCS buildout accelerates under federal investment tax credits and rising carbon prices.
Indigenous Energy Ownership Tracker
Wabamun Carbon Hub is one of the many Indigenous-partnered energy and resource projects tracked in IEM's Indigenous Energy Ownership Tracker (IEOT). It was built to centralize project ownership details, identify partnership models, and improve transparency across Canada's energy transition.
🔗 Explore the IEOT:
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