Low carbon power generation from the combination of natural gas, biomass and CCS

The transition from coal to natural gas is a key element of the decarbonisation of the global economy. The fact that natural gas supports renewables in terms of electricity generation and even storage is influencing long term energy policy to an affordable power decarbonisation. Therefore, the role that natural gas will play might be crucial if carbon capture and storage (CCS) or biomass is to be implemented into the power system. This work aims to find a holistic solution for the combination of gas, biomass and CCS in terms of cost and emissions. Three configurations were studied; Biomass Integrated Combined Cycle (BIGCC), Hydrogen Thermal Combined Cycle (HTCC) and Externally Fired (EF). The potential of each process to capture CO2 was calculated as well as the likelihood of achieving carbon neutral or negative emissions at a certain cost. Finally the main parameters influencing the net emissions and cost were identified through a global sensitivity analysis. Key conclusions from the work are the following: (1) With a reasonable biomass blending rate (16% to 47%) it is possible to achieve neutral emissions. (2) Biomass and CCS systems always will deliver negative emissions, if biomass supply chain CO2 emissions are lower than 900 kg/tBM and capture rate higher than 50%. (3) Biomass combustion with CCS (EFccs100) has a higher probability of capturing more than a tonne of CO2 per MWh. (4) Capacity factor was a common key parameter among technologies. (5) All configurations with more than 50% blending had a 67% likelihood of reaching costs lower than $100/tCO2av (6) If the whole BECCS CO2 emissions are considered, i.e., including supply chain emissions, instead of the single power plant CO2 emissions, there will be c.50% increase in the median cost of CO2 removed ($/tCO2 ).Open Acces