Carbon Capture Costs: FEED & pre-FEED Cost Reports

Prairie State Generating Company is conducting a FEED study for a carbon capture facility on its 816 MWe Unit #2 in Illinois, using Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ KM CDR Process™ with KS-21™ solvent. Designed to treat all flue gas from the unit, it would be the world’s largest post-combustion capture plant, compressing CO₂ for off-site sequestration. The project will leverage engineering support from Kiewit, Sargent & Lundy, and MHI.

Scope starts with the receipt of natural gas and fuel gas mixture from the existing Plant 01 and Plant 09 source and terminates with hydrogen (H₂) at the required specification and conditions to be used as fuel in the existing SMR unit. High concentration CO₂ from the ATR is captured and H₂ production from the proposed facility will replace the fuel gas feed to the primary reformer for heating. The facility capacity is based on the heating duty required to replace the current fuel source. The scope for the study involves the new ATR unit and associated downstream shift, CO₂ capture, and syngas purification unit. The project scope also includes an ASU to supply oxygen to the ATR unit.

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.