According to China Energy, the project, which is connected to a generation unit at the Taizhou coal-fired power plant, will annually capture 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
As part of China’s efforts to become carbon neutral, the China Energy Investment Corporation (China Energy) on Friday put into operation a massive carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) facility in one of its subsidiary coal-fired power plants in the Jiangsu Province of east China.
According to China Energy, the project, which is connected to a generation unit at the Taizhou coal-fired power plant, will annually capture 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).
The facility has grown to be the biggest CCUS project in Asia for the production of coal-fired electricity. After those in the United States and Canada, it is also the third-largest in the world, according to China Energy.
According to Ji Mingbin, president of China Energy’s Jiangsu branch, “during the project’s trial run, the CCUS system demonstrated reliable performance and high safety standards, and the energy efficiency indicators and product quality are at or above their designed levels.”
Thick pipelines connect the steep towers and smokestacks at the CCUS facility. As flue gas passes through the towers, low-temperature chemical bonds between CO2 from emissions and amines occur. After being separated, the CO2 is pressurised and moved to storage containers.
China Energy has significantly improved its CO2 capture and compressing technologies, lowering absorbent costs and second-time energy consumption. Finding an amine absorbent that is durable, highly stable, and energy-efficient is a difficult task. the China Energy subsidiary Energy Technology.
According to Xu, the concentration of CO2 from the flue gas is typically at or below 15%, in contrast to other scenarios where carbon capturing is used. He also noted that the research team has carried out more than 1,000 tests to identify an appropriate absorbent.
According to China Energy, self-developed amine mixtures can capture 1 tonne of CO2 with less than 90 kilowatt-hours of electricity while increasing the carbon capture rate to over 90% and using less energy for re-heating.
The group collaborated with other institutions to create the biggest CO2 compressor in the country. We have successfully produced all of the equipment for our CCUS project domestically, according to Xu.
Although the CCUS project is thought to be a practical means of achieving carbon neutrality in the energy sector, it has problems turning a profit and has limited application possibilities. The inability to fully consume CO2 has been a roadblock to CCUS projects’ ability to operate sustainably, according to Ji.
The China Energy Taizhou power generation plant conducted research in 2019 to understand the market demand for 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year in Jiangsu. The cost of producing 1 tonne of CO2 is around $35, and the company has secured contracts with eight firms. Primary applications for the captured CO2 include dry-ice manufacturing and shielding gases for welding.
Ji stated, “We look forward to selling CO2 to the nearby regions like Zhejiang and Shanghai, as well as possibly overseas to South Korea and Japan. The purity of our CO2 has reached 99.99 percent, which meets the requirements to be added to beverages like cola.
In 2022, China’s coal-fired power generation fell to less than 60% of its overall power generation. However, given the nation’s abundance of coal-dominated energy resources, coal will continue to be a major source of power generation for a very long time.
China Energy, a significant coal-fired power generation company, is among the top companies creating CCS pilot projects in that country. The country’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 include these initiatives.
The company launched its first 100,000-tonne CCS project in 2011, and it will launch a 150,000-tonne CCS project in 2021. It was also informed about the CO2 mineralization in a CCS project in Datong City, Shanxi Province, central China, at the beginning of this year.
“China Energy will continue its endeavors to strengthen technological innovation, and contribute efforts to the country’s carbon neutrality goal,” said Zhang Changyan, a spokesperson for China Energy.