Abstract:
Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology is one of the indispensable supporting technologies for the low-carbon transformation of the power system, but China has not yet formulated relevant policy mechanisms to recognize the carbon reduction of CCUS. In this way, coal-fired CCUS power plants can currently only derive a portion of their economic advantages from the constrained physical CO
2 market, which means they are unable to capitalize on carbon reduction benefits within China Emission Trading System. This scenario hampers the investment enthusiasm in coal power CCUS technology, thus impeding the achievement of China's dual-carbon objectives. The study presents a unit-level technical-economic-emission simulation model for power structure transition within medium-to-long-term frameworks, operating on an annual time step to simulate and analyze trajectories pertaining to power generation, carbon emissions, carbon capture, utilization, storage volumes, as well as associated costs and revenue metrics for coal-fired CCUS power plants. A quantitative analysis was conducted to quantify the impacts of the recognition coefficients of carbon storage volume and carbon utilization volume on the economic viability of coal-fired CCUS power plants. It further assesses the measurement methodology of recognition coefficients for carbon storage volume and/or carbon utilization volume based on specific CCUS policy objectives (e.g., maintaining CCUS cash flow equilibrium). The research results show that recognizing the carbon reduction volume of CCUS can improve its economic benefits. The carbon reduction recognition method proposed in this paper can dynamically update the recognition standards of carbon storage volume and/or carbon utilization volume based on policy objectives, carbon emission costs, and CCUS costs, thereby supporting the formulation of relevant policy and promoting the high-quality development of coal-fired CCUS power systems.