Abstract

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has funded development of a NEMS-CTS (National Energy Modeling System - CO2 Capture, Transport, and Storage) model that enables modeling of CO2 pipelines and pipeline networks across the forty-eight contiguous states. An existing NEMS-based analysis used by NETL to assess carbon capture and storage (CCS) for existing coal-fired power plants was updated to include CO2 capture from both existing coal-fired and new gas- and coalfired plants, factor in plant specific variations in the costs of CO2 capture and include regional variations in the costs of the transmission and sequestration of CO2. Pipeline networks in the updated model are configured endogenously to be optimally consistent with the latest capacity and cost data for the U.S. sequestration resource base. The model enables analysis of various source, sink, and pipeline combinations under different economic and policy scenarios. This paper presents a recent application of the model to assess the role of CO2 capture, transport and storage (CTS) in both carbon tax and clean energy standard scenarios. Documentation is presented for key parts of the model, including:

  1. capture costs - an update of the original generic model, based on the AEP Conesville Unit 5 CCS retrofit study (Ciferno, 2007), which included corrections based on capacity, heat rate, and emission control configuration, now include corrections for other site specific details such as space constraints and location;

  2. sequestration capacity and costs - NATCARB1 and other data bases are used for storage capacity and formation properties which are combined with drilling, monitoring, and other cost estimates in various cost models;

  3. transmission costs - pipeline cost data and GIS data on siting constraints are combined in a General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) based optimizer that configures an evolving pipeline network;

  4. NEMS integration - the GAMS GDX utility is used to interface NEMS and the GAMS based optimizer (CTS Module) such that the evolving pipeline network and its associated cost adders for transmission and sequestration are consistent with the penetration of CTS in NEMS.

Keywords:
us government, pipeline network, modeling & simulation, co 2, subsurface storage, upstream oil & gas, tax case, sequestration, climate change, energy information administration
Subjects:
Storage Reservoir Engineering, Environment, CO2 capture and sequestration, Climate change
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2012. Carbon Management Technology Conference
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