Techno‐economic evaluation of regional CCUS implementation: The STRATEGY CCUS project in the Ebro Basin (Spain)

STRATEGY CCUS (Strategic Planning of Regions and Territories in Europe for Low‐Carbon Energy and Industry through CCUS) is a 3‐year project (2019‐2022) funded by the European Commission to support the development of low‐carbon energy and industry in eight regions of Southern and Eastern Europe by 2050. Among the three most promising regions selected was Ebro Basin (Spain) where local development plans (or scenarios) were defined for CO2 capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies implementation based on an industrial cluster approach. Potential regional impact analysis of these CCUS implementation plans was carried out based on the environmental impact assessment, social‐economics factors, social acceptance and in‐depth techno‐economic analysis. The Ebro Basin region is located at the north‐east (NE) of Spain and was selected based on its level of CO2 industrial emissions, estimated geological storage capacity and well‐defined transport network (pipelines, roads, rail and ports). The base scenario presented was built with the aim of covering the most extensive CO2 network but limited by the storage possibilities in the area. It covers the 15 largest emitters in the region, 3 storage sites and a complete transportation network including trucks, pipelines and ships. An alternative scenario was also proposed considering only those industries where CCUS technologies are already included in their decarbonisation strategy. The economic analysis of proposed scenarios is presented as an in‐depth set of key performance indicators (KPIs), as cost per tonne of CO2 avoided, allowing an effective comparison of the scenarios, understanding the real potential for CCUS implementation in the area and pointing out key needs for making it possible. © 2022 The Authors. Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.