GE Vernova, Technip Energies Receive Green Light on Gas-Fired Power Station with Carbon Capture: Net-Zero Teesside Project

Net-Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power) reached financial close and issued a full notice to the GE Vernova/Technip Energies (T.EN)/Balfour Beatty consortium. The U.K. project is to be, according to the consortium, the world’s first gas-fired power station with carbon capture and storage (CCS), capturing up to 2 million tons of CO₂ per year. The captured carbon will be transported and permanently stored by the Northern Endurance Partnership. Once the plant is up and running, it could produce up to 742 MW of flexible low-carbon power.

The project will include:

• T.EN-designed carbon-capture and CO₂ compression plant
• GE Vernova combined-cycle gas turbine power plant including:
  • 1 9HA.02 gas turbine: for the 50 Hertz segment featuring high back pressure suitable for a carbon-capture plant
  • 1 steam turbine capable of large steam extraction for carbon capture
  • 1 generator
  • 1 heat recovery steam generator (HRSG)
  • Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system
  • 16 years CSA contract for the full power train
  • 6-year O&M contract covering the entire power plant, including the EGR system.

Technip Energies, with the support of technology partner Shell Catalysts & Technologies, is leading the integration of a carbon-capture plant using its Canopy by T.EN solution, powered by Shell’s CANSOLV CO₂ capture system. GE Vernova will lead the integration of a combined-cycle power plant and its EGR system, which enables the operator to boost the efficiency and performance of carbon capture.

NZT Power station; image credit: Technip Energies

“As everyone close to carbon-capture technology knows, it is an energy-intensive process, and the technical challenges are considerable when you’re able to capture up to 98% of CO₂ while improving the performance of the natural combined-cycle power plant,” said Jeremee Wetherby, GE Vernova’s Carbon Solutions Leader. “GE Vernova developed a holistic approach considering various integration technologies. Reintroducing part of the exhaust flow back into the gas turbine inlet, our EGR system can lead to a higher concentration of CO₂ in the exhaust stream. As a result of these changes in flue gas flow and composition, EGR operated as part of the NZT project is expected to demonstrate potential benefits with respect to reduced carbon-capture plant cost, footprint, solvent usage, auxiliary loads, and improvements in performance and emissions for the integrated combine-cycle gas turbines with CCS plant while meeting or exceeding the operability requirements to support the grid.”

Technip Energies' CEO, Arnaud Pieton, said the company is excited to partner with GE Vernova and Balfour Beatty. “This award confirms Technip Energies’ position as a provider of integrated CCS solutions," Pieton said. "By leveraging our Canopy by T.EN solution powered by Shell’s CANSOLV CO₂ capture system, we aim to set a new standard for low-carbon power generation. This project not only underscores our commitment to innovation and sustainability but also highlights the critical role of collaboration in driving the energy transition forward.”

In October 2024, GE Vernova’s front-end engineering design study found the effects of adding a system capable of capturing up to 95% of CO₂ emissions at a combined-cycle power plant in Alabama could be reduced through a series of integration measures, including an EGR system. The study findings, released by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, found integrating GE Vernova’s EGR system:

• could reduce more than 6% of the total cost of the carbon-capture facility compared to installing carbon capture without the EGR system
• could reduce total carbon-capture operational costs per year (total costs include reductions to capital and operating costs)

The benefits of an EGR system compared to a non-EGR system include:

• a large reduction of carbon-capture facility footprint and cost of absorber
• lower operating costs due to reduced amine degradation
• less energy-intensive separation due to higher concentration of CO₂
• more steam turbine power output due to lower steam consumption