Integrated gasification combined cycle and carbon capture: A risky option to mitigate CO2 emissions of coal-fired power plants

The power sectors of many big economies still rely on coal-fired plants and emit huge amounts of carbon dioxide. Emerging countries like Brazil, China and South Africa plan to expand the use of coal-fired thermal plants in the next decade. Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) is an innovative technology that facilitates the implementation of carbon capture (CC). The present work analyzes the maturity and costs of the IGCC technology, with and without CC, and assesses the effect of the technology risk on its economic viability. Findings show that the inclusion of the risk in the economic analysis of IGCC plants raises the cost of CO2 avoided from 36 US$/tCO2 to 106 US$/tCO2 in the case of Shell Gasifiers and from 39 US$/tCO2 to 112 US$/tCO2 in the case of GE Gasifiers. Thus, the introduction of IGCC with CC on a wider scale faces huge uncertainties. The feasibility of these plants will rely heavily on the overcoming of the technology risk. Besides, its implementation in the short run will depend on government incentives to bear with the additional cost incurred in the first-generation plants.

► IGCC is a vital technology for the introduction of CCS for coal fired power plants.
► Entrained flow gasification is the most suitable technology for IGCC with CCS.
► IGCC costs indicated in literature are lower than those indicated for real projects.
► This difference is due to the technology risk IGCC plants put up with.
► Public funding conditions could help investors to overcome the technology risk.