Initial techno-economic screening of BECCS technologies in power generation for a range of biomass feedstock

Abstract Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) has the potential to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and ultimately play an important role in climate change mitigation. The aim of this research is to compare the techno-economic performance of different types of biomass in different CO2 abatement technologies via simulations. This is information that is currently not available in the BECCS literature and the present study constitutes the first attempt to bridge this knowledge gap. Simulations revealed that potentially annual CO2 negative emissions of 1.0 Mt up to 1.52 Mt can be achieved for a 250 MW power plant when biomass is coupled with the appropriate CCS technology. Economic analysis estimated that CO2 avoidance costs in the range of £46- £88 per tonne of CO2 are required to match the cost of bioenergy generation without CCS. A sensitivity analysis to investigate the effect of carbon pricing as an economic tool suggested that a carbon price range of £83 - £146 per tonne of CO2 is necessary to compete with natural gas. A parametric analysis on the LCOE identified the high fuel cost as the major cost driver; other significant factors are the plant capacity factor and the capital charges.