Abstract

This report reviews possible operating requirements for coal-fired power plants with carbon dioxide (CO2) capture in current and future electricity systems. It also outlines a range of operating options that may be available to plant operators to meet these requirements. It is expected that flexible operation of coal-fired power plants with CO2 capture will be required in many electricity systems. Current knowledge of potential approaches for flexible operation of power plants with CO2 capture in the public literature is limited. A review is, however, used to inform an initial technical evaluation of potential operating modes for coal-fired power plants with CO2 capture. It is also necessary to identify suitable techniques for economic analysis of possible operating approaches. A range of factors that could be considered are outlined and should be taken into account in further work to develop robust analytical methods. If these methods can be successfully developed and implemented then they should improve decisions made by investors, policy-makers and other stakeholders.

January 2010