Solar-based calcium looping power plant with thermo-chemical energy storage capability: A techno-economic and environmental (LCA) analysis

Renewable energy holds a significant place in the quest for low carbon economy and climate neutrality. Furthermore, the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) technologies are foreseen to have a significant role in overall economy decarbonization. The renewables and CCUS integration has an attractive potential for the future energy- and cost-efficient energy systems. Along this line, the Calcium Looping (CaL) is a particular attractive technology to deliver high energy efficiency with thermochemical energy storage potential. The present study performs an in-depth technical, economic and environmental analysis for a solar-based CaL plant with thermo-chemical energy storage to generate 100 MW net electricity. The power plant is assessed in flexible operational conditions in view of energy storage using CO 2 and sorbent storage capabilities. As evaluation shows, the solar calcium looping process has promising techno-economic performances: high net power efficiency (around 42.5%), lower economic costs such as the specific capital investments (about 3400 €/kW net power), around 76 €/MWh levelized cost of decarbonized electricity and very attractive low environmental impact (evaluated through a detailed Life Cycle Analysis - LCA). The flexibility of investigated CaL power plant using CO 2 and sorbent storage capability is very promising for overall optimization of the most relevant technical, economic and environmental performance indexes.