Carbon capture: from niche to pivotal

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) stands out as a pivotal technology in the effort to reduce emissions and meet ambitious net-zero targets. Once a niche solution, it has become a central strategy for the way we manage our climate and energy needs, both now and into the future. This transformative technology is reshaping how various industries approach carbon management, making it not just a feasible option but an essential component of modern energy approaches. Technip Energies is well positioned as a provider of carbon capture technology and decarbonisation solutions, enabling industries across the world to meet their emissions reduction targets.

Carbon capture is an almost century-old technology; removal of CO₂ from industrial gas streams via amine stripping was first patented in 1930 but has historically been applied to relatively high CO₂ concentration sources, such as processing raw natural gas for sale. The captured CO₂ stream would typically be vented to atmosphere as a waste product, or returned to oil and gas reservoirs, to boost production under enhanced oil recovery schemes.

Two concepts have formed the basis for the evolution of carbon capture into an effective climate-change mitigation tool and active business sector. First, the technology can be successfully adapted and applied to the majority of the world’s industries, which inherently have relatively dilute CO₂ concentrations. Second, the captured carbon can be permanently sequestered underground, preventing it from entering the atmosphere, or re-used to make useful products. Implementation of these concepts has led to the birth of CCUS as a commercial reality and essential part of the global net-zero trajectory.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that carbon capture will contribute approximately 8% of cumulative global CO₂ emissions reduction by 2050, and that it will make a larger contribution to CO₂ mitigation than either hydrogen or biofuels under its “Sustainable Development Scenario”. Since the power industry is responsible for about 40% of global CO₂ emissions, applying carbon capture to power generation is crucial for effective climate management. The IEA anticipates that by 2070, world electricity generation from fossil-fuelled and biomass power plants will still exceed 8600 TWh/y, with 100% of emissions from fossil-fuelled generation abated by CCUS and 48% of biomass-fuelled power.

Are these projections a pipedream or grounded in reality?

In 2014, SaskPower’s Boundary Dam coal fired plant in Canada became the first power station in the world to successfully implement CCUS at large scale, with a capture capacity of 1 million tonnes CO₂ per year, using Shell’s CANSOLV® CO₂ capture system. This CCUS project is now celebrating ten years of continuous commercial operation, thereby helping SaskPower to meet strict Canadian regulations on CO₂ emissions and thus retain its licence to operate.

CANSOLV® CO₂ capture technology has been tailored to meet the particular challenges of carbon capture for the power industry. It is well-suited for either retrofitting to existing plants or including in greenfield developments.

It uses a regenerable amine specifically designed by Shell to capture up to 99% of CO₂ from post-combustion streams, with a high purity CO₂ product that is suitable for both permanent sequestration and for utilisation projects. CANSOLV® CO₂ achieves excellent energy efficiency, low solvent volatility and minimal emissions, and demonstrates significant cost savings and operational performance enhancement when compared to standard monoethanolamine (MEA) approaches.

Beyond the core capture technology, 50% or more of the CAPEX investment in a carbon capture project, and a significant volume of the execution complexity, lies outside the boundaries of the primary technology package.

This is why Technip Energies and Shell Catalysts & Technologies work as an alliance, bringing together two leading companies for the energy transition. This collaboration combines cutting edge CANSOLV® CO₂ technology with project management, standardised design, and integration and delivery expertise, with the aim of building much needed carbon capture systems that are reliable and affordable. Technip Energies and Shell Catalysts & Technologies have been working together since 2012, with a proven track record in reducing cost, facilitating execution, supporting reliable operations and making carbon capture accessible for every emitter.

Canopy by T.EN™

Building on over half a century of experience in energy, gas processing, CO₂ management and major infrastructure developments, Canopy by T.EN™ is a suite of CANSOLV®-based post-combustion carbon capture solutions offered by Technip Energies. Part of Capture.Now™, Technip Energies’ strategic CCUS technology platform, the Canopy by T.EN™ concept aims to enable developers to de-risk their projects, be confident in their capture technology and meet their targets quickly, efficiently and affordably, regardless of scale, industry or location. From testing and piloting up to the world’s largest installations, Canopy by T.EN™ aims to cover the full range of capture project developers’ needs.

Amine-based capture technologies, such as CANSOLV®, are particularly suited to removing CO₂ from dilute flue gas streams, including those produced from gas power generation. However, application of the technology at large scale historically presented challenges, which have required continuous learning and innovation from the industry to overcome.

Net Zero Teesside Power is a landmark project in the United Kingdom, expected to become one of the world’s first commercial scale gas-fired power stations with carbon capture, targeting capture of up to 2 million tonnes of CO₂ per year.

The project aims to provide flexible, dispatchable low-carbon power, supporting the UK’s transition to a cleaner energy future.

The Carbon Capture Alliance consortium led by Technip Energies, with GE Vernova and supported by infrastructure group Balfour Beatty, is expected to play an important role constructing a highly efficient combined cycle plant. It will be powered by a GE Vernova 9HA.02 gas turbine in single shaft configuration, which will integrate with a state-of-the-art carbon capture plant using Technip Energies’ Canopy by T.EN™ technology.

In the United States, Technip Energies, together with Shell Catalysts & Technologies, have been awarded a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for a Canopy by T.EN™ capture project at Calpine’s existing natural gas fuelled Baytown Energy Center, which incorporates combined cycle and cogeneration technologies, employing three gas turbines, each with HRSG, plus a steam turbine. The capture unit will be designed to capture two million tonnes per annum of CO₂, representing 95% of the CO₂ emissions from two of the three gas turbines.

Calpine has a cost share agreement with the US Department of Energy Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) for the capture project.

“Our Baytown project is an important part of our far-reaching efforts to showcase the full potential of carbon capture and storage as a critical emissions-reduction technology,” says Caleb Stephenson, EVP of Commercial Operations, Calpine.

Energy-from-waste

As well as pursuing applications of Canopy by T.EN™ in gas fired power plants, Technip Energies is also looking to provide innovative carbon capture technologies to the energy-from-waste sector. The energy-from-waste industry is on track to be incorporated into both the UK and EU emissions trading systems (ETS) from 2028, creating an enhanced focus on emissions reduction within this sector. The waste used as fuel in energy-from-waste facilities typically has a biogenic component. If this biogenic CO₂ is sequestered and permanently removed, then a negative offset is created, which can be further traded as a carbon credit.

Technip Energies has recently been awarded a FEED contract by Viridor for a CCS project at one of the United Kingdom’s largest EfW facilities.

Located in Runcorn, UK, the project aims to capture approximately 900 000 tonnes of CO₂ per year, half of which will be from biogenic sources, effectively removing 450 000 tonnes of CO₂ annually from the atmosphere. As part of the FEED study, Technip Energies will leverage its Canopy by TEN™ technology. The Runcorn project will play a crucial role in the regional decarbonisation strategy by providing a stable long-term baseload CO₂ supply to the HyNet industrial carbon capture cluster in north west England.

“It was essential for us to find a partner who shares in our vision for decarbonised waste treatment and has the experience and expertise to work alongside us to develop the world’s largest carbon capture project for energy from waste,” said James Eyton, Head of CCUS at Viridor.

Recently, Technip Energies has also been selected by Cory as a partner in its planned carbon capture and storage project at the Riverside 1 and 2 energy-from-waste plants in south east London, UK. This project will use CANSOLV® technology to capture over 1.4 million tons of CO₂ annually by 2030.

Leveraging experience

With multiple project awards, Technip Energies can point to an emerging leadership position as an integrated state-of-the-art CCUS solutions provider. And Technip Energies’ involvement in high profile carbon capture projects, such as the Runcorn and Riverside EfW plants, Net Zero Teesside Power, and Baytown, highlights the company’s commitment to providing innovative approaches for the net-zero trajectory, leveraging extensive experience in project design and execution along with Shell’s proven and industry leading CANSOLV® CO₂ capture technology.