Initial evaluation of the impact of post-combustion capture of carbon dioxide on supercritical pulverised coal power plant part load performance

Pulverised coal-fired plants often play an important role in electricity grids as mid-merit plants that can operate flexibly in response to changes in supply and demand. As a consequence, these plants are required to operate over a wide output range. This paper presents an initial evaluation of some potential impacts of adding post-combustion CO2 capture on the part load performance of pulverised coal-fired plants. Preliminary results for ideal cases analysed using a simple high-level model indicate that post-combustion CO2 capture could increase the options available to power plant operators. In particular, solvent storage could allow higher effective plant load factors to be achieved to assist with capital recovery while still permitting flexible operation for grid support. A number of areas for more detailed analysis are identified.