Greener power plants 'viable'

A NEW generation of power stations which capture and store carbon instead of releasing it to the atmosphere could become financially viable in Ireland in five years’ time.

That is the view of Sustainable Energy Ireland, the State’s national energy agency, which yesterday said there was potential to store CO2 in geological vaults such as the former Kinsale gas field.

Currently, power generating stations that capture greenhouse gas emissions are one and a half times as expensive as a fossil fuel power station.

But according to Sustainable Energy Ireland, increasing costs for carbon emissions, which power stations face as part of Ireland’s participation in the EU emissions trading scheme, mean that such power plants will become increasingly viable.

Yesterday’s report An Assessment of the Potential for Geological Storage of CO2 for the Island of Ireland was prepared by a range of Irish and international scientists and agencies.

It was published jointly by Sustainable Energy Ireland and the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the report, the total cost of developing carbon capture at one of the State’s biggest single carbon emitters, Moneypoint power plant in Co Clare, in addition to the development of a storage site at Kinsale, is estimated to be €2.7 billion.

Over the 25-year lifetime of the plant, it is estimated that the total cost difference between a coal-fired carbon capture and storage plant and a conventional plant may be 50-60 per cent greater.

But if the price for carbon emissions increases from the present €25 per tonne and power companies are forced to pay for all of their emissions, carbon capture and storage may become a more economical solution, rather than paying the cost of emissions directly.

Under phase three of the emissions trading scheme, the costs per tonne for carbon emissions is set to be increased from 2013. In this context, carbon capture and storage could start to become a viable commercial option for power generators within five years.

Graham Brennan, of Sustainable Energy Ireland, said: “This is the first analysis of its kind undertaken into the area of carbon capture and storage in Ireland. The report indicates that there may be a number of offshore geological sites suitable for CO2 storage which would require significant further analysis.

“In addition, carbon capture and storage may also allow Ireland to diversify its fuel supply and reduce its dependence on natural gas for electricity generation.”