Abstract Asignificant number of large CO 2 emitters are located in central Alberta, Canada, including four coal-fired power plants in the Wabamun Lake area, with cumulative annual emissions in the order of 30 million metric tons CO 2 . To help industry and regulatory agencies in selecting and permitting sites for CO 2 storage, proper characterization is essential, covering the principal aspects of CO 2 storage: capacity, injectivity, and confinement. The sedimentary succession in the Wabamun Lake area southwest of Edmonton was identified as a potential CO 2 storage site because it would minimize transportation needs and costs from the large CO 2 sources in the vicinity. A wealth of data on stratigraphy and lithology; fluid compositions; rock properties; and geothermal, geomechanical, and pressure regimes were used to create and characterize a comprehensive three-dimensional model of the deep saline aquifers in the area that could be CO 2 storage targets. These aquifers have sufficient capacity to accept and store large volumes of supercritical CO 2 at the appropriate depth and are overlain by thick confining shale units. Initial calculations and modeling of CO 2 injection into the Devonian Nisku carbonate aquifer suggest that dissolution and residual saturation of CO 2 limit the lateral CO 2 plume spread considerably. Hypothetical injection of 12.5 million tonnes/yr of CO 2 for 30 yr would result in a maximum plume spread of less than 15 km (9 mi) in diameter. However, multiple injection wells would be needed to inject this large amount of CO 2 to maintain bottomhole injection pressures below the rock-fracturing threshold.