Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is critical for achieving global decarbonization goals and as evident from ADI’s global CCUS facilities database, the momentum continues to build across the world. However, its costs and economics vary widely depending on the industry, technology, and location. Exhibit 1 below illustrates the relationship between unit cost of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and total capture capacity for different technologies, with the bubble size representing the total capital investment.
Exhibit 1. Total CO2 capture capacity and unit cost by technology.
At a high level, it can be inferred that unit cost of capture does benefit from scale but these data points are not necessarily directly comparable. The conventional amine-based capture case here is for a coal-fired power plant in the U.S. while the advanced solvent plant is for a hydrogen production plant in Europe. Both vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) cases are representative of hydrogen production and include costs associated with metal organic framework (MOF) membrane and pre-treatment of flue gas based in the U.S. Cryogenic carbon capture is based on a new-build coal-fired power plant in the U.S. The large-scale membrane-based CO2 capture plant is designed for a coal-based power plant in the U.S. while the small-scale membrane-based CO2 capture unit is meant for a U.S. cement plant.
ADI recently completed a comprehensive study assessing the cost of capturing CO₂ across multiple sectors and technologies. This analysis combined primary research, plant data, pre-FEED and FEED studies, and modeling to provide a realistic picture of CCS costs and economics. Here are the key insights from our findings:
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