Techno-economic Assessment of Flexible Solvent Regeneration & Storage for Base Load Coal-Fired Power Generation with Post Combustion CO2 Capture

CO2 capture and storage has the potential to significantly reduce man made CO2 emissions from large point sources consuming carbon containing fuels. The share of fossil fuels is expected to remain significant in future global energy mix, driven by the energy consumption of power generation facilities. At the same time, an increased demand for flexible electricity supply is expected as a result of more intermittent renewable sources of power generation. In this work the concept of flexibility and associated plant operation parameters are evaluated on an economic basis by performing analysis on the effect of flexible solvent regeneration and storage for a base load coal fired power plant with post combustion CO2 capture in a market with cyclical electricity price patterns. An MILP model for generating the optimum operating strategy by maximizing weekly profit was developed and results presented. The model and subsequent analysis highlights the potential value of flexible solvent regeneration and storage. The work also shows a positive correlation between weekly profits and electricity price volatility. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.