Alstom Power study demonstrates carbon capture and storage (CCS) is efficient and cost competitive

Unveiling the results of a detailed study, based on Alstoms 13 pilot and demonstration projects and validated by independent experts, Alstom Power President, Philippe Joubert, said at a PowerGen Europe conference in Milan last week that: We can now be confident that carbon capture technology works and is cost effective. The cost of electricity generated in a coal-burning power plant with CCS equipment, which will be available at a commercial scale in 2015 and will allow to capture 90% of the emitted CO2, will be between 6.5 and 8.5 eurocents/kWh depending on the fuel and location. This cost is already competitive against power coming from renewable energy sources, while it will improve over the years as the CCS technology matures. Same conclusion applies for a gas-burning power plant using CCS.

After 10 years of development, CCS technology is on the point of large-scale deployment. A new global market is opening up, from which Europe is well positioned to benefit given its technological lead, the steps taken to put in place a regulatory framework and the decisions made to incentivize CCS deployment through the financing of large demonstration plants. Philippe Joubert added This is a decisive moment for players in the European energy field, in industry or in policy-making, if they want to actively position themselves as leaders on the world stage for this field of decarbonised fossil fuels, where there is considerable potential.

Alstom has long maintained that all solutions to reduce emissions, while generating the power needed for economic development and social welfare, will be necessary to tackle climate change: increasing the use of all renewable forms of energy, improving the efficiency of fossil power generation on both new and existing plants, and developing carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Over half of the worlds electricity will still be produced from fossil fuels in 2035, and CCS is currently the only valid solution for drastically reducing emissions from fossil fuel generation. The application of CCS to both coal-fired and gas-fired power stations and to industry is essential, as this technology could account for up to 20 percent of the required emissions reduction by the year 2050, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

About Alstom
Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure and sets the benchmark for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies. Alstom builds the fastest train and the highest capacity automated metro in the world, provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and it offers a wide range of solutions for power transmission, with a focus on smart grids. The Group employs 93,500 people in around 100 countries, and had sales of 20.9 billion in 2010/11. 

Press contacts
Andrés López-Morancho, Alstom España Tel.: +34 91 334 58 00
andres.lopez-morancho@crn.alstom.com
Gemma Soler, Alstom Power Tel.: +34 93 474 88 00
gemma.soler@power.alstom.com

Websites www.alstom.es        www.alstom.com/power
 

• Power Press Release 3.26