The FLExible Carbon Capture and Storage (FLECCS) programme aims to develop technologies that address difficulties in decarbonisation of electricity systems
Image: DOE’s ARPA-E offers $43m funding to develop CCS technologies. Photo: courtesy of Kiril Havezov from FreeImages.
The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has announced $43m funding for the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies.
The funded CCS technologies are expected to allow power generators to be responsive to grid conditions in a high variable renewable energy (VRE) penetration environment.
The FLExible Carbon Capture and Storage (FLECCS) programme aims to develop technologies that address difficulties in decarbonisation of electricity systems, with a focuson difficulties in CCS design, operations, and commercialisation potential with the increasing penetration of high VRE sources such as wind and solar power.
FLECCS programme will have two phases
US DOE deputy secretary Dan Brouillette said: “Flexible CCS technology has the potential to achieve unprecedented carbon capture that will revolutionize the market.
“The FLECCS program will quickly advance our carbon capture technology to bring us closer to flexible, low-cost, net-zero carbon electricity systems.”
The FLECCS programme will have two phases, in which the first phase will focus on designing and optimising CCS processes that allow flexibility on a high-VRE grid.
The second phase will focus on manufacturing components, unit operations, and small prototype systems to decrease the technical risks and costs associated with CCS systems.
Depending on the output and capacity expansion analysis, the projects will be selected to move from phase 1 to phase 2 at the conclusion of the initial funding period.
DOE said that some portion of the will be made specifically available for qualifying small business applicants under ARPA-E’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
It also said that the FLECCS projects will develop retrofits to existing power generators as well as novel systems with carbon-containing fuel input and electricity output.
Recently, DOE provided $128m funding for 75 research projects to advance solar technologies in US.
The DOE will provide funding for the projects that will reduce solar electricity costs, while increasing solar manufacturing, reduce red tape, and make the solar systems more resilient to cyber-attacks.