Highlights from the IEAGHG 2025 International CCS Summer School

Hosted by the International CCS Knowledge Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan, the 2025 IEAGHG International CCS Summer School welcomed 50 early career professionals (ECPs) from 31 countries. Over five immersive days, participants received a techno-economic and environmental deep dive into the entire CCS value chain from capture and transport to geological storage, along with sessions that included hydrogen, direct air capture (DAC), geoengineering, policy drivers, and stakeholder engagement. These were delivered through 40 lectures by a cohort of international experts.

Participants at the 2025 CCS Summer School

The week began with a warm welcome from James Fann (International CCS Knowledge Centre), Tim Dixon (IEAGHG), and John Kaldi (University of Adelaide), setting the tone for a highly engaging programme of technical sessions, collaborative tasks, and real-world insights.

One of the most anticipated moments came midweek, when delegates boarded a bus for a 100-plus-mile journey, cutting across the flat, open plains of Saskatchewan, dotted with grain silos and pumpjacks, en route to SaskPower’s Boundary Dam CCS Project near Estevan. This wasn’t your typical field trip destination, it was a visit to the world’s first full-chain CCS facility on a coal-fired power plant. Since 2014, the capture plant has captured over 6.9 million tonnes of CO₂ and counting.

The visit also included a technical briefing at PTRC’s Aquistore site, an ongoing CO₂ injection, measurement, monitoring, and verification (MMV) project that demonstrates the safe storage of CO₂ (captured from Boundary Dam) 3.4 km underground in a deep saline geological formation.

Participants at the Boundary Dam CCS capture project

Back in the workroom, participants were grouped into six teams and engaged in a consultancy-style scenario each tasked with making expert recommendations on different aspects of the Longship project, Norway’s flagship CCS initiative and Europe’s first complete value chain for carbon management. This hands-on exercise was also a clear highlight of the week, drawing together policy, technical, and financial perspectives in a collaborative setting. Well done to all the groups for their insight and enthusiasm, and congratulations to Team 2 (“Team CaCTUS”), who worked on transportation, for receiving the Group Award for Best Presentation.

Congratulations to Aymeric Amand (Zero Emissions Platform), Aurélie Grebe (University of Sherbrooke), and Despoina Tsimprikidou (CCSA), who received the Most Outstanding Student Awards. Special recognition goes to Aurélie Grebe, who won the Best Poster Award for her work on supersonic carbon capture from industrial effluents.

‘Most outstanding students’ receiving their awards.

‘Best group’ receiving their awards at the Awards Dinner.

A big thank you to the IEAGHG Summer School series sponsors CSIRO, the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Drax, ExxonMobil, Shell, TotalEnergies, Gassnova, and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy  and, also our local sponsors Pathways Alliance, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Delta CleanTech, Innovation Saskatchewan, Svante, and SaskPower whose support made the 2025 CCS Summer School a reality.

A special thank you also goes to the mentors, speakers, international steering and organising committees, and, most importantly, to the delegates themselves for their energy, curiosity, and demonstrated leadership in advancing CCS.

And finally, to the International CCS Knowledge Centre – thank you once again for being a truly outstanding host.

The countdown to the 2026 CCS Summer School now begins! Follow our website and social media for updates.