Decarbonization of the Power Sector with CCS: Case Study in Two Regions in the U.S., MISO North and SPP RTO West

Ivonne Pena Cabra (), Arun K. S. Iyengar, Kirk Labarbara, Robert Wallace and John Brewer
Additional contact information
Ivonne Pena Cabra: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA
Arun K. S. Iyengar: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA
Kirk Labarbara: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA
Robert Wallace: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA
John Brewer: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-43

Abstract: This paper estimates potential changes in the total system cost (TSC) of decarbonization of two regional transmission organizations (RTOs) in the United States (U.S.)—Midcontinent Independent System Operator-North (MISO-N) and Southwest Power Pool (SPP) RTO West. In particular, the study serves to highlight potential differences in technology costs between two decarbonization pathways at carbon reduction rates close to 100% (relative to 2019 levels) while maintaining system reliability. In Pathway A, decarbonization is achieved by replacing fossil energy (FE)-fired thermal power plants with variable renewable energy (VRE) technologies coupled with energy storage (ES). Pathway B considers retrofitting fossil fuel-fired units with carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the addition of VRE and ES. The results show that including CCS technologies in the path to decarbonization has a significant benefit from a system cost perspective. When summing up all system costs and avoided emissions over 30 years of operation of the decarbonized systems, the pathway that includes CCS is significantly more cost-effective. TSCs for MISO-N are at least USD 1279 billion (B) and at most USD 910 B under Pathways A and B, respectively. For SPP RTO West, Pathway A TSCs are at least USD 230 B, and Pathway B TSCs are at most USD 153 B. TSCs of Pathway A are 1.4–8 times larger than the total system costs of Pathway B. When CCS is not included, the cost per ton of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) avoided is estimated to be USD 124–489/ton for MISO-N and USD 248–552/ton for SPP RTO West. When CCS is included, the cost of avoided CO 2 is projected to decrease by 29–87% (mid-point estimate of 73%) with values varying between USD 64 and 114/ton and USD 74 and 164/ton for MISO-N and SPP RTO West, respectively. These differences highlight the need for consideration of all low-carbon-intensive technology options in cost-optimal approaches to deep decarbonization and the value of CCS technologies in the energy transition.

Keywords: decarbonization; power sector; electricity; carbon capture and storage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/17/4738/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/17/4738/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:17:p:4738-:d:1743305

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Cassie Shen

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().