CCUS has entered a new stage of cluster development

Recently, the Ministry of Science and Technology and other five departments jointly issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for Scientific and Technological Innovation in the Field of Ecology and Environment" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"
).
In terms of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology, the Plan proposes to carry out the research and development and demonstration of key technologies for second-generation carbon capture and carbon dioxide utilization, the research and development and demonstration of negative emission technology based on CCUS, the assessment of carbon storage potential and the matching of sources and sinks, the demonstration of storage technologies such as marine saline aquifers and terrestrial oil-bearing strata, the demonstration of large-scale carbon capture and storage areas in the million-ton level, and the integration demonstration of the whole industrial chain of CCUS in the industrial industry, and build a demonstration platform for the evaluation and application of CCUS clustering in China
。

In recent years, the large-scale and clustering development of CCUS has gradually become a trend
.
The so-called CCUS clustering consists of several CCUS projects that sequester CO2 captured from different sources in the same location
.
Cluster shared transportation and storage sites and infrastructure can reduce CO2 storage costs
.

Cluster development breaks cost constraints

"CCUS technology plays an increasingly important role
in achieving carbon reduction goals, ensuring national energy security, promoting comprehensive green transformation of economy and society, and promoting the construction of ecological civilization.
However, although China's CCUS technology has made great progress in the past two decades, hundreds of millions of initial investment, high operating costs and a payback period of more than 15 years have made its development face a series of challenges
such as high technical costs and lack of business models.
Referring to the large-scale demonstration of domestic CCUS technology, Zhang Xian, director of the Social Affairs Division of the China Agenda 21 Management Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology, told
reporters frankly.

The Roadmap for the Development of China's Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage Technology (2019 Edition) and the Annual Report on China's Carbon Dioxide Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) (2021) show that the overall scale of CCUS demonstration projects in China is still small and the cost is high
。 It is estimated that by 2030, the total cost of carbon dioxide capture will be 90-390 yuan/ton, and 20-130 yuan/ton in 2060; In 2030 and 2060, the cost of CO2 pipeline transportation will be 0.
7 yuan/(ton·km) and 0.
4 yuan/(ton·km), respectively.
The cost of carbon dioxide storage in 2030 is 40-50 yuan/ton, and the storage cost in 2060 is 20-25 yuan/ton
.
High costs have discouraged many enterprises that "go it alone
".

"Cluster development can not only dilute the initial input cost through shared transportation and storage infrastructure, reduce operating costs through scale effects, but also promote the establishment of strategic partnerships between different stakeholders of the project, allowing all parties to jointly fund and work together, so as to form an effective business model
.
" Zhang Xian said
.

Shell China, which has recently laid out CCUS clustering projects, also told reporters that the CCUS industry involves a more complex value chain and stakeholders
in different industries and links.
CCUS industry clustering can help maximize the value of decarbonized infrastructure construction and project operation by integrating enterprises in different links to form a coordinated and complete industrial chain
.

Large-scale demonstration promotes cluster development

In recent years, CCUS projects have clearly shown a trend
of large-scale and clustered development.
According to the statistics of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Research Institute, as of October 2022, the number of commercial CCUS facilities in operation and planning construction worldwide has increased to 196, and the carbon dioxide capture capacity will reach 244 million tons per year after completion, and there are as many as 24 CCUS industry clusters in planning and operation around the world
.

In 2021, the State Council issued the Action Plan for Peaking Carbon Emissions before 2030, which proposed to build a full-process, integrated and large-scale carbon dioxide capture, utilization and storage demonstration project
.
In fact, the number and scale of CCUS demonstration projects in China are rising rapidly, including clustered projects
.
For example, the Xinjiang CCUS industrial cluster, jointly planned by the China Petroleum and Oil and Gas Industry Climate Initiative (OGCI), is actively preparing to capture and store 3 million tons of carbon dioxide per year by 2030.
On November 4, Shell, Sinopec, China Baowu and BASF plan to jointly launch China's first open 10-million-ton CCUS project in East China.
In June this year, CNOOC also announced that it would launch China's first 10-million-ton offshore large-scale CCUS cluster project
.

"As of September 2022, there are 99 CCUS demonstration projects that have been put into operation, are planned to be built and are under construction in China
.
At present, 58 projects have been put into operation, with a capture capacity of more than 4 million tons/year and an injection capacity of more than 2 million tons/year
.
Zhang Xian introduced, "The development of large-scale full-process integration demonstration projects is crucial
to the commercial operation of CCUS projects in the future.
On the one hand, the hidden problems of CCUS technology in the laboratory and pilot stage can be found; On the other hand, it can effectively solve the problems
of system integration coupling and optimization in all aspects of capture, transportation, utilization and storage.
”

Shell China also said that large-scale development will be a key difference
between future large-scale CCUS projects and previous pilot projects and small independent projects.

Do a good job of technical strategic reserves

However, Zhang Xian reminded that clustering is the future development trend of CCUS projects, but there are still certain challenges
in terms of regulatory standards, supporting infrastructure and technological maturity at this stage.

"At present, the cluster operation of CCUS projects lacks systematic legal regulations and standard system support
.
" Zhang Xian believes that we can properly learn from successful international experience and establish a CCUS development policy and regulatory framework
that conforms to China's national conditions as soon as possible.

Shell China also said that long-term and appropriate policy support is crucial for the development of CCUS clusters, including the formulation of carbon pricing policies, the establishment of corresponding frameworks to encourage demand for low-carbon products, and fiscal and tax incentives for CCUS emission reduction
.

Zhang Xian further said that at present, China is in an important period of CCUS technology development, and the promotion of large-scale cluster development of CCUS should be laid out in advance and infrastructure construction optimized, "It is recommended to reserve underground space
for large-scale carbon dioxide storage on the basis of overall consideration of underground mineral deposits and resource utilization.
" At the same time, the carbon dioxide transportation pipeline network
is reasonably arranged.
”

It is worth mentioning that with the development of a new generation of capture technology, the energy consumption and cost of CCUS projects are expected to decrease by 30%
in the future.
"If the second-generation capture technology can meet the conditions for commercial promotion around 2030, it can not only greatly reduce project costs and energy consumption, but also effectively avoid foreign technology blockade
.
" Zhang Xian said
.
(Lin Shuijing, intern reporter, China Energy News)