CCUS Investment Shifts Towards Power Generation and Hard-to-Abate Industries

Investment in carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technology is shifting towards power generation and hard-to-abate industries, according to a report by GlobalData. The intelligence firm's Strategic Intelligence report on carbon capture and storage indicates that natural gas processing holds the largest portion of currently active CCUS capacity due to concentrated carbon dioxide streams and established commercial uses.

However, the project pipeline is increasingly directed towards power generation and other emissions-intensive industries. Power generation is expected to become the leading sector for forthcoming CCUS capacity, with 73 million tonnes per annum in projects projected to come online by 2030. This growth is attributed to rising electricity demand, continued reliance on dispatchable thermal generation, and efforts to extend the operating life of existing assets while lowering emissions.

Ravindra Puranik, an oil and gas analyst at GlobalData, explained that CCUS technologies are intended to capture carbon dioxide from point sources such as flue gas emissions so it is not released into the atmosphere. In the oil and gas industry, he noted, the technology is mainly used to remove carbon dioxide from natural gas at gas processing plants and LNG liquefaction terminals.