The potential of carbon capture and storage as a tool for the integration of RES

Usually carbon capture and storage is considered an alternative to the introduction of renewable energy sources. However by their high energy consumption, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) systems have the capacity to contribute to the necessary power reserves for the compensation of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), by decreasing the power injected by the conventional power plants. If the CCS system has a continuous operation, the conventional power plant has a smaller capacity to compensate RES. Admitting a discharge of the CO2 emissions into the atmosphere only for the periods when power injected by RES is very low (under 30 % of the installed power for our example) CCS might also be regarded as an important method for the integration of RES. With this hypothesis the quota of the electrical energy generated by RES (in our example) could be extended to 60 % (the double of the EU 2020 target). This value could increase even more if cogeneration or trigeneration plants are used in parallel with RES.