Researchers attempting to demonstrate the feasibility of developing salt caverns in North Dakota for underground storage of natural gas and gas liquids say core samples taken from the Pine and Dunham salt formations look "really promising."

In a discussion with the ND Industrial Commission this week, Charles Gorecki, CEO of the Energy and Environmental Research Center at UND, said core samples show layers of salt 65-to-70 feet thick at depths ranging from 6,000 to 7,500 feet. Gorecki said salt caverns in the Gulf Coast region are usually spherical because they take advantage of salt domes, but he said North Dakota's salt caverns would be cylindrical in shape.

"Imagine a propane tank that is a mile long, a mile and half long, and has a 50-foot radius," Gorecki said. 

EERC and industry researchers are now working to complete a modeling and engineering study and will submit an interim report this fall to the ND Legislature, which appropriated $9.5 million for the study. A final report is due to the legislature in June of next year.

Gorecki said the next step would be constructing an actual cavern. The process injects fresh water into the formation to dissolve the salt, and the resulting brine would be pumped back out, leaving an underground void in which gas or liquids could be stored.

Gov. Doug Burgum, who chairs the Industrial Commission, said the opportunity to develop salt caverns to support establishment of a petrochemical industry is yet another bonus of North Dakota geology.

"When you're talking about a mile long propane tank and the capacity of that, it'd be interesting as part of helping the public understand this to say, if you built this with steel on the surface and stored the same amount, what would it cost you?" Burgum said. "This is another gift, the jackpot of geology just keeps on giving because this thing would be completely unaffordable in the normal world, and is beyond unthinkable economically in a world where steel prices are where they are, and we've just been given this thing." 

Gorecki said the multiple layers of salt would allow the development of numerous caverns for the underground storage of different commodities.

"So imagine you've got one for propane, butane, ethane, hydrogen, all of these stacked up for a petrochem facility or a series of petrochemical facilities," Gorecki said. "Refining, bio-refining, you name it, you now have a place where you can store your components."

Click here to read or download a paper produced by the ND Geological Survey that describes the state's underground salt formations.

The world is changing rapidly, and nowhere is that more evident than in North Dakota with the evolving nature of the various sectors of the state's energy industry. 

The Bakken Region: 2030 and Beyond was the topic of a conference this week in Watford City featuring government and industry leaders sharing their thoughts on the future of energy production and development in western North Dakota.

Ron Ness, president of the ND Petroleum Council, said America needs to wake up and learn lessons from Europe and other parts of the world that now face energy shortages because they turned their back on fossil fuel investment. Ness said the public needs to understand and accept the fact that wind, solar and other forms of intermittent energy cannot replace coal, oil and natural gas.

Click here to listen to Ness' comments.

Ness said in addition to recognizing that oil will be part of the energy picture for decades to come, Americans need to appreciate the fact that it is produced more cleanly in the United States, especially in North Dakota.

Click here to listen to Ness' comments.

Lynn Helms, director of the Department of Mineral Resources, shared two maps with the audience, one of which identified existing energy resources, and another that showed what was possible in years to come. Helms said development of an industry that revolves around capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions will be most significant, but he also talked about the possibility of developing hydrogen, rare earth minerals, petrochemicals and attracting data centers. He encouraged the audience to think long term.

Click here to listen to Helms' comments.

Andrea Travnicek, director of the state Department of Water Resources, reminded the crowd that everyone needs water. But she pointed out other parts of the country experiencing drought are struggling to supply water to their growing populations. Travnicek said the Missouri River is one of the few large rivers that is not subject to a multi-state compact, which would allocate a share of water to the states the river crosses. She cautioned that the abundance of water in the Missouri River is being eyed by states outside the basin.

Click here to listen to Travnicek's comments.

Justin Kringstad, director of the ND Pipeline Authority, described the state's growing natural gas production, which he said means the state will need additional pipeline takeaway capacity, but also provides an opportunity for value-added energy development. Kringstad it will be important to think big when looking for solutions.

Click here to listen to Kringstad's comments.

The Bakken 2030 event was sponsored byMcKenzie County Economic Development and Watford City Senator Dale Patten.

Governor Doug Burgum said North Dakota is the only state in the nation where groups of people from all walks of life come together to discuss ways to improve the quality of education.

Burgum, who spoke this morning at the fall conference of the ND Council of Educational Leaders, said building a strong education system is not easy, but the state has a leg up on others because of its collaborative approach.

"We're the only state where we actually all get in the room and talk, we've got the K-12 Coordinating Council, we've got school boards, we've got teachers, we've got the administrators, we've got legislators, we've got parents, we've got classroom teachers on the K-12 Coordinating Council, we've gotten executive branch offices on the Coordinating Council," Burgum said. "We may not all agree on everything, but we're in the room talking to each other about solutions for all of those young people in North Dakota."

Burgum said North Dakota was the fourth fastest growing state in the country between 2010 and 2020. The state now has 126,000 students in grades K-12, and Burgum pointed out there are 60,000 children newborn to age 5 in the state. He said the state's collaborative approach will be key to providing opportunities to young people, educating them with the skills required to be "choice ready" to join the workforce. 

"It's not just a K-12 issue, it's not just a parents alone issue, it's not just a community issue, it's not a state government issue, it's an everybody issue," Burgum said. "But our state is nimble enough that we can actually solve this 'everybody issue,' with everybody working together that other states can't."

Burgum met with an NDCEL focus group prior to his speech, during which he said participants described additional opportunities to reduce red tape and provide educators more flexibility to prepare students for the workforce. He said it was also important to recruitment efforts for teachers to focus on the positive, talking about the reasons teachers continue in the occupation rather than the reasons they're leaving.

The governor concluded his remarks by challenging the crowd to think about "daring greatly in education" to give North Dakota a competitive advantage.

"It's not just about your building or your district, it is about literally the future of the state, and therefore the future of the country because North Dakota is super important," Burgum said. "The way we feed and fuel the world, the whole world depends on us getting it right, right here. We can be the place where people figure it out, get it done, work together and unite, and if we do that, we're going to create some spectacular successes, and we're going to create some spectacular lives for all these young people."

Summit Carbon Solutions filed its application for a siting certificate with the ND Public Service Commission this week.

The company plans to capture carbon dioxide emissions from ethanol plants in five Midwestern states and pipe the CO2 to western North Dakota for permanent underground storage. The project will reduce the "carbon footprint" of ethanol production and enhance the long-term economic viability of the ethanol and agriculture industries.

Summit's application to the PSC totals 3,122 pages. The document includes extensive environmental, biological and cultural resource studies, as well as detailed maps of the proposed route. In addition to obtaining PSC siting approval, the company will also need a permit from the ND Industrial Commission for underground storage in Mercer and Oliver counties.

Summit's website indicates the company has signed easement agreements with more than 500 North Dakota landowners totaling 160 miles of the proposed pipeline route and 130,000 acres of the proposed CO2 sequestration site. 

“Since we announced our project last year, Summit Carbon Solutions has been committed to working in partnership with landowners, stakeholders, and communities to drive growth in North Dakota’s two most important industries – agriculture and energy,” Summit Carbon Solutions CEO Lee Blank said in a news release. “Securing partnerships with more than 500 North Dakota landowners reflects that commitment and the growing support for making investments today that will support economic growth long-term."

Summit Carbon Solutions is partnering with 32 ethanol plants in the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska to develop the largest CO2 capture and storage project in the world. The pipeline network will cover about 2,000 miles, and represents a total investment of $4.5 billion, nearly $900 million of which is in North Dakota. Upon completion, a study by Ernst & Young indicates the project will contribute an average of $465,000 in new property taxes annually to every North Dakota county in which the project is located.

Click here to see maps of each state's portion of the pipeline. Click here to see links to the list of documents provided to the PSC.

Officials at the Energy and Environmental Research Center are working with various industry partners to prepare an application for federal grant funding that is aimed at developing hydrogen hubs around the country.

EERC CEO Charles Gorecki updated ND Industrial Commission members on the effort this week.

"We have several key anchor industry members who are working very closely with us on the concept paper for this. They're combined bringing to the table $1.25 or $1.3 billion dollars in cost share,' Gorecki said. "We have numerous additional companies ... that are engaged and interested in supporting type roles."

He said non-disclosure agreements with the companies prevent them from being identified publicly, but he assured Gov. Doug Burgum and other NDIC members the state will submit a single application to the Department of Energy, in partnership with the states of Montana, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

"There's some pieces to be worked out with respect to the anchor tenant now, or in a supporting role now and maybe becoming an anchor tenant, but they're all committed." Gorecki said. "Every bit of information that I have is that we have one application and there's no competing application."

Gorecki's statement suggests that Bakken Energy, which wants to purchase the Great Plains Synfuels and convert it produce hydrogen, is participating in the state's partnership. Just a few weeks ago, the company announced it had been invited by DOE to submit an application under the Innovative Clean Energy Loan Guarantee Program. Bakken Energy described it as an important milestone in applying for DOE financing for $1.7 billion of Bakken’s $2.35 billion clean hydrogen project.

Gorecki said EERC's concept paper is due November 8, and the full grant proposal must be completed by April 1, 2023. 

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) received a record-setting number of interconnect applications this year.

The 956 requests to connect to the MISO grid added up to 171 gigawatts of new generation across the MISO footprint. The vast majority – 164 GW or 96 percent - are intermittent generation or storage resources. Last year's queue applications totaled 487 for 77 GW.

The 2022 submittals exceeded the previous all-time high for a third year in a row, and reflect an acceleration of the trend toward additional intermittent generation that is jeopardizing grid reliability.

“At this point, we are experiencing exponential growth in the queue,” said Andy Witmeier, director ofresource utilization at MISO. “The current applications continue to be heavily weighted with renewables and standalone storage requests, again tripling the amount submitted the previous year.”

Solar projects (84 GW) continue to represent the single-highest category this year followed by hybrid projects (34 GW) and storage projects (32 GW).  Wind projects totaled about 14 GW.

In July, MISO’s board approved 18 transmission projects representing $10.3 billion in new investment through Tranche 1 of its long range transmission planning effort. The projects will add new transmission capacity to the grid and will be included in the 2022 generator interconnect studies. Congress’ approval of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act also increases production tax credits available to intermittent generation. 

“These numbers continue to represent the seismic shift occurring on the electric grid highlighting a rapid resource transition to renewable energy,” said Witmeier. “We are working with our stakeholders on the additional regional transmission needed to accommodate this resource shift.”

The MISO queue currently consists of 769 projects totaling 118 GW – 97 percent of which are intermittents or storage. If all the projects submitted this year are accepted as valid applications, the MISO queue would balloon to 289 GW. 

Minnesota-based Talon Metals announced plans this week to open a facility in Mercer County that will process nickel and other minerals for batteries from raw ore mined in Aitkin County, Minnesota.

Pending environmental reviews and permitting in both Minnesota and North Dakota, Talon Nickel plans to transport raw ore from its Tamarack mine by rail to the proposed facility to be located on a brownfields site in Mercer County. Talon aims to expand domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles and the electrical grid. The project represents a $433 million investment, including a $114 million DOE grant.

“In our community meetings, participants have said they are proud that Aitkin County, Minnesota can supply vital ingredients for the domestic battery supply chain and address America’s dependency on China and Russia for minerals like nickel," said Talon Chief External Affairs Officer and Head of Climate Strategy Todd Malan. “We are committed to producing the metallic minerals needed for domestic battery production while also protecting the environment and cultural resources wherever we operate."

Governor Doug Burgum credited North Dakota's stable tax and regulatory environment for attracting Talon to the state.

"Today’s announcement that Talon Metals plans to create 150 jobs and invest more than $400 million in a battery minerals processing facility sends a strong signal that North Dakota is open for business,” Burgum said. “By increasing domestic production of nickel and other battery minerals and reducing our reliance on foreign sources, we can strengthen our economy, our communities and our national security while continuing to grow North Dakota’s status as a powerhouse for the nation.”

Talon is the majority owner and operator of the Tamarack Nickel Project in central Minnesota, currently the only high-grade nickel-copper-iron-cobalt deposit under development in the United States. The proposed separation of mine and processing operations will create a new domestic battery grade nickel and iron production capacity designed to meet the timeline of the Biden administration's National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries. 

Both North Dakota Senators Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven were highly critical of the Biden administration's announcement this week that it plans to release 15 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an attempt to prevent an increase in gasoline prices in response to production cuts announced by OPEC.

The senators noted the announcement comes less than three weeks before the midterm elections. Cramer's comments came on Fox Business News, where he joined Larry Kudlow to discuss Biden’s plans. 

“It will backfire,” said Cramer. “First of all, it’s going to have a minimal effect on the price of gasoline. Second of all, we’re already down to only a three-week supply, so let’s just say, for example, Hurricane Ian’s younger brother, Hurricane Isaac, comes into the Gulf Coast and wipes out the coast of Texas and the coast of Louisiana. Suddenly we need all of that capacity they were producing."

"Instead of unleashing the Bakken, West Texas, or other areas in the United States, we need to go to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve," Cramer continued. "We’ve made ourselves dependent again. It’s so absurd. It’s so wrong economically. From a national security and geopolitical common sense standpoint, we should be using our resources to influence the world rather than being influenced by the world."

Hoeven said instead of tapping US reserves, Biden should look to domestic producers to fill the void.

“The Biden administration has been draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, dropping it to the lowest level in 40 years, while begging OPEC to produce more oil,” said Hoeven. “Instead of draining our reserves and making the U.S. subject to the whims of OPEC, the Biden administration needs to take the handcuffs off U.S. oil and gas producers. Empowering domestic energy production is the right long-term solution to lower energy costs and provide hardworking families relief at the pump.”

Minnkota Power Cooperative held a Project Tundra meeting for landowners last week in Center, with about 75 attendees on hand to hear the latest about the project that would capture and store carbon dioxide emissions from Milton R. Young Station.

In addition to its permitted storage facility on the site of the Young Station where CO2 will be captured, Minnkota is pursuing another storage area outside of Center. Stratigraphic test well research, geophysical survey work and other data analysis continues to show that the region has ideal geology for safe, permanent CO2 storage.

“This project would not be possible without the outstanding support we’ve received from the landowners, the city of Center and Oliver County,” said Mac McLennan, Minnkota president and CEO. “We remain committed to keeping open lines of communication with all key stakeholders as we continue forward with development efforts.”

Among speakers at the landowner meeting were McLennan; Shannon Mikula, Minnkota environmental manager and Project Tundra geologic storage lead; and Wes Peck, Assistant Director for Subsurface Strategies at the Energy & Environmental Research Center. Minnkota anticipates completing engineering work on the CO2 capture facility in 2023. Additional work will be completed to refine the project’s economic model and prepare to pursue financing efforts. A decision on whether to move forward with construction is expected before the end of 2023.

Senator John Hoeven is the latest individual to help produce a video to put a face on the people who work in the lignite industry or are strong backers of the economic benefits it provides.

Hoeven shot the video at Milton R. Young Station on a visit to Coal Country last week.

"Energy Security is national security, it's so important in so many ways," Hoeven says at the beginning of the video. "There's an energy component to every product, every service, every business needs energy."

Hoeven goes on to describe the quality of jobs provided by the industry, meeting air quality standards, and reclamation work on mined lands. He also stresses the importance of the industry to local communities.

"When you look at the communities around here, it has a huge impact in terms of keeping those communities strong and vibrant, making sure that we have the tax base there for our schools and for all the services of law enforcement, all the things that people want in the quality of life that we have here in North Dakota," Hoeven said.

Click here to watch the video.

The state’s home energy assistance program is now accepting applications for families in need of help this upcoming heating season.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) helps eligible families with home heating and weatherization costs. The program partially pays the cost of natural gas, electricity, propane, fuel oil, coal, wood or other fuel sources, along with the costs associated with heating a home. LIHEAP also covers weatherization services, furnace cleaning, repair, replacement, chimney cleaning and inspection, and emergency assistance.

Applications were available as of October 1 and will be accepted through May 31, 2023. They may be submitted online, by mail, and locally at a human service zone office. Additional program information and the application may be found here. 

Eligibility is based on a household's income, which must be at or below 60 percent of North Dakota’s median income to qualify. Income limits based on the household size will also be applied. LIHEAP is available to both homeowners and renters living in the state. For those tribal members living on reservations in North Dakota, assistance will be available through tribal LIHEAP programs. 

North Dakota Health and Human Services offers additional assistance to qualifying families. Find the full list of programs here.