(503d) Techno-Economic Analysis of Electrification for a Deep Decarbonization of the Industry

There are three main low carbon solutions for a deep decarbonization of the industry: carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), electrification with green power or using alternative low carbon fuels. We present a techno-economic comparison between the three options.

In this talk we will mainly focus on CCS. One of the main challenges of carbon capture is the high energy demand of the process. This is for example due to the use of heat for amine regeneration and reclaiming in an absorption-based process or cold in a cryogenic process. To avoid extra CO₂ emissions related to the production of heat or cold it might be interesting to electrify the carbon capture & conditioning process with green power. In this work we compare a classical and a fully electrified carbon capture & conditioning unit for different industrial applications (refinery, CCGT, LNG) for the three most mature industrial CO2 capture technologies: absorption with an aqueous amine, oxycombustion, and cryogenic separation (if applicable). We identify the key parameters determining the economics allowing for a quick decision. From an economic point of view, the main challenge of CCS is to build a strong business case, which is mainly based on the cost of avoided CO₂ emissions.

In a second step we compare CCS with full and partial (hybrid) electrification of the industrial plant with renewable or low carbon power. The business case is often much stronger because it includes not only avoided CO₂ emissions, but often also the sale of the hydrocarbon fuels that are being replaced. There are, however, serious technological challenges in the large-scale electrification of some equipment. Full and partial electrification and CCS are compared for typical onshore and offshore oil and gas plants, including LNG plants.

To conclude, CCS and electrification are compared to the use of an alternative, low carbon fuel. Examples are hydrogen and biogas. Similar to electrification, the business case is often much stronger due to the sale of saved hydrocarbon fuels. Alternative fuels are, however, limited in availability (biogas), or much more expensive (hydrogen) compared to usual fuels. Moreover, the technological maturity to produce and transport hydrogen at a large scale is still a challenge. However, hydrogen might become more advantageous compared to electrification if the process requires significant temperatures, for example, in a petrochemical plant, a furnace to crack hydrocarbons to produce monomers for the polymer industry.

The aim of the study is to identify the key parameters to guide us in the first selection of the optimal deep decarbonization approach. The comparison is performed both for greenfield and brownfield applications.