Carbon Capture Costs: FEED & pre-FEED Cost Reports

Membrane Technology and Research Inc., with Technology Centre Mongstad, Dresser-Rand, Trimeric Corporation, and WorleyParsons/Advisian, is scaling up its advanced Polaris™ membranes for post-combustion CO₂ capture and testing them at engineering scale at TCM in Norway. The Polaris membranes, about 20 times more permeable than prior commercial versions, use a patented selective recycle design to boost CO₂ concentration in flue gas and lower capture costs. The project will design, build, and operate a modular membrane system for a six-month field test, including performance verification, steady-state operation, techno-economic updates, and integration studies with advanced compression technology.

Cleco Power (Cleco) performed a three-phase front-end engineering and design (FEED) study evaluating installation of a carbon dioxide (CO2) Capture System at Madison Unit 3 (MU3), Project Diamond Vault (DV) The work was performed under a Department of Energy (DOE) grant DE-FE0032165. The FEED study included three phases: (1) a feasibility phase which sought to define the scope of the project, (2) a pre-FEED phase which sought to develop a detailed cost estimate, and (3) a final FEED phase which sought to develop the project to be ready to move into execution. The FEED study was completed by Cleco, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (MHIA), and Sargent & Lundy, LLC (S&L) with oversight provided by the Louisiana Economic Development (LED). The feasibility phase was completed in February 2023, which was followed by the pre-FEED phase which concluded in January 2024. The project subsequently entered the final FEED phase, during this phase Cleco made the decision to stop work on the FEED study due to market conditions which resulted in a project that was not economically viable at the time.

The CEMEX Balcones Carbon Capture project is a DOE-supported Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study evaluating commercial-scale deployment of RTI International’s non-aqueous solvent (NAS) technology at the Balcones cement plant in New Braunfels, Texas. The study assessed capture of approximately 2.4 million tonnes of CO₂ per year at roughly 95% capture efficiency from cement kiln flue gas and an associated natural gas–fired boiler, developing an AACE Class 3 cost estimate and detailed engineering design to support future investment decisions. Led by RTI International with KBR as EPC engineering contractor and SLB Capturi as owner’s engineer and technology licensor, the project evaluated integration challenges such as limited cooling water availability, resulting in a hybrid air- and water-cooling configuration. The FEED estimated total project capital costs of about $849 million and annual operating costs of approximately $109 million, providing a techno-economic basis for large-scale cement decarbonization and future project execution planning.