The new carbon capture technology has been developed at a pilot plant at RWE’s Niederaussem power station near Cologne in collaboration with BASF, which tested the carbon capture process and Linde, which was responsible for pilot plant engineering and construction.
The new technology captures CO2 by means of new chemical solvents, which is claimed to feature better oxygen stability to reduce solvent consumption and cut energy input by about 20%.
The partners are now working on scaling up the process for demonstration and large power plants, with the first demonstration plants scheduled to come on stream in 2015.
This technology, which has been designed to capture more than 90% of the CO2 contained in the waste gas of a power plant for subsequent sub-surface storage or for chemical transformation, is expected to be used commercially in coal-fired power stations by 2020.
RWE Power vice president of research and development Johannes Heithoff said that the company is pleased with this breakthrough, which it has achieved by cooperating closely with BASF and Linde.
“By enhancing efficiency and accordingly reducing costs, we have created a critical success factor for carbon capture technology, which in our view is key to climate-compatible power generation from coal,” Heithoff said.
