Implementation of the Power to Methanol concept by using CO2 from lignite power plants: Techno-economic investigation

The scope of this study is the techno-economic evaluation of the Power to Methanol (PtM) concept, valorising CO2 that comes from high CO2 emitting lignite-fired power plants, in order to investigate the prospect of PtM in a future energy market of high RES penetration and advanced lignite-fired power plants. The concept was examined for the case of Greece. Two distinct case studies were selected, regarding the entity that makes the investment in PtM: a) the power plant owner case and b) the private investor case. The study focused on the estimation of the MeOH cost for a marginally feasible investment by fulfilling techno-economic criteria. In the case of the power plant owner the MeOH cost was estimated at 421(sic)/tn MeOH and was about 40% lower than the cost calculated for the private investor case (580(sic)/tn MeOH), due to the higher operating capacity of the H-2 and MeOH plants and the lower electricity cost in the first case. The MeOH cost was further decreased in both cases by considering: a) large plant scales, b) low electricity cost, c) high operating time for the H-2 and MeOH plants, d) low CO2 costs and/or e) low discount rates. Following the results for Greece, the power plant owner case was also examined for Germany and proved to be even more sustainable, due to the lower electricity cost in Germany. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.