Carbon capture technologies can help cut emissions whilst ensuring security of supply

The urgency of the climate crisis is driving world leaders to give more attention to their climate neutrality strategy and assess whether the expected results will be sufficient to bring about change. The European Union has been a key early driver of the green transition. At the end of 2019, the European Commission published the European Green Deal, comprising a roadmap for making the EU's economy sustainable. Concretely, the EU set itself the ambitious objective of being the world's first climate neutral continent by 2050, with the intermediate target of a 40% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030[1]. Recently, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the European Climate Law raising the 2030 reduction target to at least 55%.[2] Since the launch of the European Green Deal, the EU has put forward several strategies to use different technologies that support this goal, often with a focus on renewable energy.

Considering the challenges posed by climate change, the rate of CO2 emissions must be reduced. Among the technologies playing a role in the wider range of options to achieve the climate goals set by the European Commission, Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) technologies are particularly appealing for certain industrial sectors or markets relying heavily on thermal generation to meet their electricity needs. Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) involves methods and technologies to remove CO2 from industrial production by capture, transportation and underground storage.

The European Commission has recognized carbon capture technologies as “crucial to achieving 2050 climate targets”. Through networks such as the CCUS Project Network[3] and CO2 Value Europe, stakeholders aim to raise awareness about the different projects with the deployment of CCUS and the advancement of these technologies. The International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that carbon capture technologies “are critical for putting energy systems around the world on a sustainable path”.[4]

Carbon capture projects are currently mainly developed in Western Europe (UK, The Netherlands and Norway for example). For South Eastern Europe, Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation, funded only one project in Greece (link). Major projects concern CCS technology applied to infrastructures, transport projects, industrial sites, and to a lesser extent power plants. For example, the Northern Lights CCS project in Norway is part of the Norwegian full-scale CCS project, including capture of CO2 from industrial capture sources in the Oslo-fjord region (cement and waste-to-energy) and shipping of liquid CO2 from these industrial capture sites to an onshore terminal on the Norwegian west coast. From there, the liquified CO2 will be transported by pipeline to an offshore storage location in the North Sea for permanent underground storage.

One valuable element of CCS is that they can be applied to existing technologies. This would allow for the continuation of the activities of coal plants and consequently the operation of lignite mines, by retrofitting CCS to these plants. This makes CCS particularly attractive to minimize the social impact of the transition towards green energy. In addition, whilst plans for transitioning to greener sources of energy are made, countries can still rely on existing thermal generation assets to maintain reliable energy generation, security of supply and energy independence at the same time.

Investments into CCS are a viable and cost-effective option to eliminate large CO2 fees. A case study on Bulgaria’s thermal power plants (TPP), should they be retrofitted with CCS, finds that “the carbon capture option seems viable and attractive for the Maritza East plants and deserves further site-specific assessment”.[5] CCS retrofitting would include the installation of carbon capture units in the power generation facilities, the construction of CO2 transportation pipelines, and CO2 permanent storage. The continued operation of these facilities would allow them to continue their track record of providing a reliable energy grid and would maintain the employment of 15,000 people.

Recently, the Maritza region was identified as one of the three regions in Bulgaria with geological characteristics suitable to store CO2. On this basis, the Mining and Geology University prepared a detailed proposal for a technical study to explore the opportunity to store CO2 in the region (up to 100km distance). A closer storage site would allow an easier deployment of CCS technology in the Maritza basin.

An alternative to carbon storage is carbon utilization which can also play a role in the wider range of technologies to achieve the climate goals set by the European Commission. The attractiveness of Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) is partly derived from its viable business model, and the potential economic value it represents; it can also create synergy with renewables, such as hydrogen from renewable sources to produce fuels. One way to process CO2 is mineralisation, which consists in transforming CO2 into a stable and storable by-product, such as calcium carbonate. Another way is to produce synthetic gases used in industrial processes, such as CO or methanol. While those technologies have been proven at small scale, the next step is to deploy them at commercial scale. CCU represents a potential way for AES Maritza to continue providing reliable energy and ensuring security of supply.

More assessment and discussion around CCUS must take place, and further advancements in policies and technologies on CCUS and carbon pricing are necessary. Crucially, this technology could help cut emissions while allowing for the survival of TPPs who ensure security of supply. This could fully set us on our path towards a greener future.