CCUS in Power

CCUS can support power system transformation in three important ways: by mitigating emissions from existing coal and gas assets through retrofitting; by enhancing flexibility by providing both firm and peak low-carbon power; and by generating negative emissions when combined with bioenergy. Although recent technological innovations and policy developments provide encouraging signs for the future of CCUS in power generation, deployment remains well off track for meeting Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario levels.

The two commercial power plants that have been retrofitted with CCUS – the Petra Nova project in Texas, United States, and the Boundary Dam project in Saskatchewan, Canada – have provided important lessons for future projects.

The Petra Nova facility, which operated from January 2017 to May 2020, had the largest post-combustion carbon capture system installed on a coal-fired power plant. It could capture up to 1.4 Mt CO₂ annually, and the captured CO₂ was used in enhanced oil recovery, a process in which CO₂ is injected to extract oil that is otherwise non-recoverable. However, low oil prices associated with Covid-‑19 economic impacts resulted in capture operations being suspended in May 2020.

The Boundary Dam CCUS project, the world’s first CCUS-equipped power plant, has been operating since 2014. It has a capture capacity of ~1 Mt CO₂ per year. A feasibility study by the International CCS Knowledge Centre, based on Boundary Dam data and costs, suggests that a second-generation capture facility could be built with 67% lower capital costs, at a cost of USD 45/tCO₂ captured and a CO₂ capture rate of up to 95%.

Both projects are retrofits of existing coal-fired power plants. Being able to cost-competitively retrofit existing plants will be important to meet global climate and energy goals, as the average age of coal-fired power plants in Asia is only 13 years, and new plants continue to be built around the world, particularly in Asia (the average technical lifetime of a power plant is 50 years). Retrofitting these plants with CCUS could therefore address both economic and emissions challenges, allowing them to be operated while recovering investments and reducing their carbon footprint.