Project Overview

ENCAP aims at technologies that meet the target of at least 90% CO₂-capture-rate and 50% CO₂-capture-cost reduction. A group of 33 legal entities comprising 6 large European fossil fuel end users, 11 leading technology providers, and 16 high ranked RTD providers has agreed to establish the ENCAP consortium.

ENCAP is organised as an integrated project (IP) having an impact of the results on the medium to longer term. The objective is to develop new pre-combustion CO₂-capture technologies and processes for power generation based on fossil fuels - mainly hard coal, lignite and natural gas - that are conceived as affordable and clean, and which can be integrated with sustainable energy systems.

The RTD activities are structured in 6 sub-projects that directly meet the stated objectives of the Work Programme (WP). These sub-projects are:

• SP1: Process and Power Systems
• SP2: Pre-Combustion Decarbonisation Technologies
• SP3: OxyFuel Boiler Technologies
• SP4: Chemical Looping Combustion
• SP5: High-Temperature Oxygen Generation for Power Cycles
• SP6: Novel Pre-Combustion Capture Concepts

ENCAP will, in compliance with the stated objectives of the WP:

• Perform research and development on pre-combustion CO₂ capture (incl. pre-normative and socio-economic impacts) and validate by testing technical and economic feasibility of concepts, and also interact with research-related networks and carry out training and dissemination.
• Deliver results that have the potential for a wide commercial exploitation with a time horizon 2015-2020. ENCAP will generate knowledge and results that enable power companies to decide to launch a new design project by 2008-2010 aimed at a large-scale demonstration plant. Main risks are scientific and technological
• Enhance the competitiveness of European industry
• Contribute to the creation of a European Research Area for CO₂ capture
• Generate, exploit and disseminate new knowledge that contributes to the implementation of the EU research policy