Carbon Capture Costs: FEED & pre-FEED Cost Reports

Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), with Fluor Corporation and California Resources Corporation (CRC), conducted a FEED study to assess the feasibility of retrofitting Fluor’s solvent for post-combustion CO₂ capture at the 550 MW Elk Hills NGCC power plant. The system aims to capture approximately 4,000 tonnes of CO₂ per day (75% of total emissions, or 90% of an 83% slipstream), with the captured CO₂ intended for enhanced oil recovery. Deliverables include the full engineering design package—such as process flow diagrams, equipment datasheets, and capital cost estimates—optimized for site-specific performance, operations, and construction practices.

The Peterhead CCS Project in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, was designed to demonstrate the world’s first commercial-scale post-combustion CO₂ capture from a gas-fired power station. Using amine-based CANSOLV technology, it aimed to capture around one million tonnes of CO₂ annually from one turbine at SSE’s Peterhead Power Station, compress and condition it, and transport it via a new offshore pipeline for injection into the depleted Goldeneye gas reservoir over 2 km beneath the North Sea. The FEED study defined project scope, refined CAPEX and OPEX estimates, and assessed cost uncertainties, providing a basis for the Execute phase while also documenting budget performance and emergent costs during FEED.

General Electric Gas Power, with Linde, Kiewit, and Southern Company Services, is conducting a FEED study for a “Generation 2” amine-based post-combustion CO₂ capture system at an existing NGCC power plant. Targeting at least 95% capture efficiency, the design will emphasize optimized integration, lower CCS costs, and flexible operation to complement renewable energy. The 18-month project will progress from multiple conceptual designs to a single configuration, culminating in a detailed design, technical viability assessment, techno-economic and life cycle analyses, and a business case evaluation.