A significant number of large CO₂ 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 CO₂. To help industry and regulatory agencies in selecting and permitting sites for CO₂ storage, proper characterization is essential, covering the principal aspects of CO₂ storage: capacity, injectivity, and confinement. The sedimentary succession in the Wabamun Lake area southwest of Edmonton was identified as a potential CO₂ storage site because it would minimize transportation needs and costs from the large CO₂ 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 CO₂ storage targets. These aquifers have sufficient capacity to accept and store large volumes of supercritical CO₂ at the appropriate depth and are overlain by thick confining shale units. Initial calculations and modeling of CO₂ injection into the Devonian Nisku carbonate aquifer suggest that dissolution and residual saturation of CO₂ limit the lateral CO₂ plume spread considerably. Hypothetical injection of 12.5 million tonnes/yr of CO₂ 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 CO₂ to maintain bottomhole injection pressures below the rock-fracturing threshold.