The economics of carbon capture and storage in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria, Australia

摘要

This paper reports the results of a six month scoping study on the economics of a proposed large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Australia. The Latrobe Valley in the state of Victoria is the source of almost 54 million tonnes per year (Mtpa) of CO_2 emissions from existing coal-fired power stations and this will grow as new large-scale energy projects are brought on stream. This study investigates the costs of capturing up to 50 Mtpa from a variety of sources in the Latrobe Valley, compressing, transporting and storing it in geological formations offshore in the Gippsland Basin, south-east of Victoria. Using cost data generated by CO2CRC's CCS techno-economics model, this paper discusses the issues involved, reports the key results of the study and gives estimates of the absolute and per-unit costs of the scheme as a whole as well as its individual components. It also reports the economic effects of different storage alternatives and uncertainty in reservoir properties.