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CO2 conditioning and liquefaction for ship transport (low or medium pressure) levelized cost

Captured CO2 compressed, dried and liquefied at 7 or 15 barg for ship transport: levelised liquefaction cost in EUR/t, specific electricity in kWh/t, yearly electricity, CAPEX scaled on the daily flow (Roussanaly et al. 2021), and buffer storage as a separate line.

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Open Jack

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  • CurrencyEUR 2017
  • Battery limitfully financed
  • 65 documented assumptions
  • Updated27 Oct 2026

Mass and energy balance

What the asset draws and delivers for the case and load you choose.

Reference case

Share of the year the unit runs at its daily flow. 85 % is the source value. Sets the yearly tonnes; the investment depends on the daily flow only.

Flows

  • In: Captured CO2 (gas, 1 bara)—
  • In: Electricity—

Asset

CO2 conditioning and liquefaction unit for ship transport (7 or 15 barg)

  • Out: Liquid CO2 for ship transport—

Annual quantities at the current usage.

Tonnes of liquid CO2 produced per operating day, the capacity makers print (Nord Gas PuregasBC 25-110 t/d, Linde modular plants 100-360 t/d, Air Liquide Cryocap LQ from 700 t/d per train). The source cost law covers 0.5-20 Mt/y, about 1,600 t/d and up at 85 %: below that the cost is extrapolated and likely optimistic.

Hourly CO2 flow
— t/h
Liquid CO2 volume per day
— m3/d
Electrical demand in operation
— MW

CAPEX

Specific cost at this size, what backs it, and how it behaves with scale.

Specific CAPEX at this size

—

Reference size 3,223 t/d

Roussanaly 2021, Eq. 1

Model value: the source investment scaled to your flow. Customized: your own quote per t/d, used as is at every size; the value is then no longer sourced.

Specific CAPEX by cO2 liquefied per day

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  1. Ex-factory
  2. Installed
  3. Fully financed· this figure
CAPEX at the battery limit—

Included

  • Equipment and installation
  • Indirect and owner's costs
  • Contingency

Not included

  • Nothing

Added at project level

  • Nothing: project mode uses the figure as is

Project figures

Values passed to project mode when this asset is added to a project.

Concept sketch, not to scale · drag to rotate

Captured CO2 (gas, 1 bara) in
—
Electricity in
—
Liquid CO2 for ship transport outMain product
—
CAPEX to the battery limit
—
Fixed O&M
—
Variable O&M, excluding feedstocks
—
Asset lifetime
25 years

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Liquefaction cost

A standalone indicator for a quick read. Project mode recomputes it for the whole system.

—

  • Cost: capital—
  • Cost: fixed O&M—
  • Cost: electricity—
  • Cost: other variable OPEX—

Linked to the balance above

Share of the year the unit runs at its daily flow. 85 % is the source value. Sets the yearly tonnes; the investment depends on the daily flow only.

Price of the electricity used by the compressors and the refrigeration cycle. 80 EUR/MWh is the source value.

Cargo of the ships loading at this terminal. Used only to size the buffer storage (1.2 x ship size, Roussanaly 2021), shown as a separate line outside the liquefaction cost.

Real rate for the capital recovery factor and the construction interest. 8 % is the source value.

Years over which the investment is annualised. 25 years is the source value.

Liquefaction cost by utilisation rate

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Benchmarks

This model's figures against published references and reference cases.

Liquefaction cost, EUR/t

14 Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

14.9 Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

Specific energy, kWh/t

17.4 Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

25 Element Energy 2018, p.45

112.4 Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

121.8 Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

Reference cases at this size and usage

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All results

Every model output at the current settings, grouped, with the sensitivity charts.

51 outputs · 7 groups · 15 also shown above, dimmed

Liquefaction cost

7
Liquefaction cost
ComputingEUR/t
Cost: capital
ComputingEUR/t
Cost: fixed O&M
ComputingEUR/t
Cost: electricity
ComputingEUR/t
Cost: other variable OPEX
ComputingEUR/t
Capital share of the cost
Computing%
Electricity share of the cost
Computing%

Size and CAPEX

7
Liquefaction CAPEX
ComputingEUR
Specific CAPEX
ComputingEUR/(t/d)
Specific CAPEX at the 1 Mt/y reference
ComputingEUR/(t/d)
Reference CAPEX at 1 Mt/y
ComputingEUR
Scale exponent applied
Computingratio
CAPEX per yearly tonne
ComputingEUR/t
Outside the source size domain
Computingbool

Energy and process

12
Specific energy
ComputingkWh/t
Energy penalty vs 15 barg
Computing%
Electrical demand in operation
ComputingMW
Annual electricity
ComputingMWh/yr
Heat rejected (lower bound)
ComputingMWh/yr
Transport pressure
Computingbarg
Transport temperature
Computing°C
Liquid CO2 density
Computingkg/m3
Specific energy if CO2 arrives at 90 bara
ComputingkWh/t
Compression share of the energy
ComputingkWh/t
Specific energy with an impure feed (max)
ComputingkWh/t
Energy uplift with an impure feed (max)
ComputingkWh/t

Production

6
CO2 liquefied per year
Computingt/year
CO2 liquefied per year (Mt)
ComputingMt/year
Hourly CO2 flow
Computingt/h
Liquid CO2 volume per day
Computingm3/d
Operating hours
Computingh/year
Utilisation gap to the source
Computingpp

Buffer storage

6
Buffer storage volume
Computingm3
Buffer storage CAPEX
ComputingEUR
Buffer storage fixed O&M
ComputingEUR/year
Buffer storage cost per tonne
ComputingEUR/t
Buffer storage in days of production
Computingd
CAPEX incl. buffer storage
ComputingEUR

Source check

4
Liquefaction cost printed by the source
ComputingEUR/t
Capital cost at the source configuration
ComputingEUR/t
Capital cost printed by the source
ComputingEUR/t
Capital cost check, model vs source
Computing%

Finance and yearly costs

9
Capital recovery factor
Computing1/year
Construction interest factor
Computingratio
Capital incl. construction interest
ComputingEUR
Annualised capital
ComputingEUR/year
Fixed O&M
ComputingEUR/year
Electricity cost
ComputingEUR/year
Other variable OPEX per tonne
ComputingEUR/t
Other variable OPEX
ComputingEUR/year
Total yearly cost
ComputingEUR/year

Sensitivities

5 charts
Liquefaction cost components vs utilisation

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Liquefaction cost at 7 and 15 barg

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Specific CAPEX and liquefaction cost vs daily flow

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Liquefaction cost vs electricity price

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Annual electricity vs daily flow

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Sources

About

Calculator context

Unit that turns captured CO2 into liquid for ship transport, as in a Northern Lights type CCS chain: multi-stage compression with intercooling and water knock-out (dehydration), impurity removal, pre-cooling, liquefaction and flash gas recompression, with a two-stage ammonia refrigeration cycle, to liquid CO2 at 7 barg (-46 °C, low pressure) or 15 barg (-30 °C, medium pressure). The calculator gives the levelised liquefaction cost in EUR per tonne, split into capital, fixed O&M, electricity and other variable OPEX; the specific electricity in kWh/t; the yearly electricity in MWh; the liquefaction CAPEX; and, as a separate line, the buffer storage before loading. The size input is the liquid CO2 per day in t/d, the capacity makers print.

Method. The model follows Roussanaly et al. (2021, Energies 14:5635), built on the process of Deng et al. (2019), for pure CO2 at 1 bara and 40 °C from the capture plant. Specific energy: 96.3 kWh/t at 7 barg and 90.4 kWh/t at 15 barg (Table 3). Investment: a power law with exponent 0.85 from a 1 Mt/y reference. The source does not print the investment; it is derived from the printed fixed OPEX and the rule that fixed OPEX is 6 % of the investment, giving 41.7 MEUR at 7 barg and 38.3 MEUR at 15 barg (EUR 2017). The investment is carried over a three-year 40/30/30 construction and annualised with the capital recovery factor. As an independent check, the capital part at the source configuration (8 %, 25 years, 1 Mt/y) is 4.26 EUR/t against 4.2 printed at 7 barg, and 3.92 against 4.0 at 15 barg. The two OPEX parts are rebuilt from the same table, so the totals (about 15.1 and 14.0 EUR/t against 14.9 and 14.0 printed) are not a separate validation.

Scope. The source covers 0.5 to 20 Mt/y, about 1,600 t/d and up. The slider starts at 20 t/d to reach packaged units (25-360 t/d), but there the 0.85 law is extrapolated: no open source sets the cost at that scale, and small units likely cost more. Impure CO2 (103-122 kWh/t in the source) and CO2 already at 90 bara (9-17.4 kWh/t) are out of scope and shown only as references. Liquefaction is cheaper at 15 barg, but the source finds the full 7 barg chain more than 30 % cheaper over a wide range, because ships and buffer tanks cost less; choose the pressure on the whole chain.

Model

119 variables — inputs, calculations and outputs, with their dependencies.

119 variables shown of 119
VariableValueUnitDepends on
3000t/d—
1——
0——
13000EUR/(t/d)—
85%—
80EUR/MWh—
10000t—
8%—
25years—
VariableFormulaUnitDepends on
if((<=0)+(<=0)+(>100)+(<0)+(<0)+(<=0)+(<)+(>)+(<0)+(>)+(<=0)+(<=0)>0,1,0)bool
*ratio
*ratio
(*(+)^)/max((+)^-,)1/year
**(+)*(+)+**(+)+*ratio
VariableFormulaUnitDepends on
**h/year
***t/year
/Mt/year
/t/h
-pp
if((<)+(>)>,,)bool
if(==,,)kWh/t
(/-)/%
**MW
**MWh/yr
MWh/yr
if(==,,)barg
if(==,,)°C
if(==,,)kg/m3
*/m3/d
if(==,,)kWh/t
-kWh/t
if(==,,)kWh/t
-kWh/t
if(==,,)**/(*)EUR
/EUR/(t/d)
if(>=,,)ratio
if(>=,,clamp(*(/)^(-),,))EUR/(t/d)
*EUR
/max(,)EUR/t
if(<,/,(*(+)^)/max((+)^-,))1/year
**(+)*(+)+**(+)+*ratio
*EUR
*EUR/year
**EUR/year
*EUR/year
max(if(==,,)-**,)EUR/t
*EUR/year
+++EUR/year
/max(,)EUR/t
/max(,)EUR/t
/max(,)EUR/t
/max(,)EUR/t
+++EUR/t
/max(,)/%
/max(,)/%
**/(*)EUR/t
if(==,,)EUR/t
(/max(,)-)/%
if(==,,)EUR/t
**/m3
*if(==,,)EUR
**EUR/year
(**+)/max(,)EUR/t
*/d
+EUR

Assumptions

65 assumptions used in the calculations

  • Protects divisions against a zero denominator.

    Market range Not applicable (numerical parameter).

    0.000001
    Numerical constant

  • Unit value used in the CRF, the guards and the Customized switch.

    Market range Exact by definition.

    1
    Numerical constant

  • Zero value used in flags and in the floor of a derived residual.

    Market range Exact by definition.

    0
    Numerical constant

  • Converts a percent into a fraction.

    Market range Exact by definition.

    0.01
    Numerical constant

  • Tonnes per megatonne.

    Market range Exact by definition.

    1000000t/Mt
    Numerical constant

  • Kilograms per tonne.

    Market range Exact by definition.

    1000kg/t
    Numerical constant

  • MWh per kWh.

    Market range Exact by definition.

    0.001MWh/kWh
    Numerical constant

  • MW per kW.

    Market range Exact by definition.

    0.001MW/kW
    Numerical constant

  • Time basis of the operating hours.

    Market range 8760 h (8784 h in a leap year).

    8760h/year
    Calendar convention

  • Converts the daily liquefied flow into a yearly quantity.

    Market range 365 d (366 in a leap year).

    365d/year
    Calendar convention

  • Converts the daily flow into an hourly flow.

    Market range Exact by definition.

    24h/d
    Calendar convention

  • Code of the 7 barg reference case in the technology_case select.

    Market range Not applicable.

    1
    Selector code

  • Code of the 15 barg reference case in the technology_case select.

    Market range Not applicable.

    2
    Selector code

  • Lowest valid code of the reference case select.

    Market range Not applicable.

    1
    Selector code

  • Highest valid code of the reference case select.

    Market range Not applicable.

    2
    Selector code

  • Electricity per tonne liquefied at 7 barg, from CO2 at 1 bara and 40 C after capture up to liquid CO2 in storage: multi-stage compression with intercooling and water knock-out, pre-cooling, liquefier, flash drum, flash gas recompression and a two-stage ammonia vapour-compression refrigeration cycle.

    96.3kWh/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Electricity per tonne liquefied at 15 barg, same process and inlet as the 7 barg case. Less work because the liquefaction temperature is higher (about -30 C instead of -46 C).

    Market range Same Table 3 range as the 7 barg case.

    90.4kWh/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Out of scope reference: if the CO2 already arrives at 90 bara the compression is done upstream and liquefaction needs only 17.4 kWh/t. Used only to show the energy this calculator counts for compression from 1 bara.

    17.4kWh/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Out of scope reference, 15 barg counterpart of the pre-pressurised case.

    9kWh/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Upper reference for impure CO2: impurity removal adds work. The calculator itself is for pure CO2; this value shows how much an impure feed can add.

    121.8kWh/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • 15 barg counterpart of the impure-feed reference.

    112.4kWh/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Product pressure of the low pressure case.

    Market range Ship transport studied at 7 and 15 barg; 45 barg is a third option outside this source.

    7barg
    Roussanaly 2021, abstract

  • Product pressure of the medium pressure case.

    Market range Same as the low pressure case.

    15barg
    Roussanaly 2021, abstract

  • Liquid CO2 temperature at 7 barg, close to the triple point (-56.6 C), which is why the 7 barg chain needs a purer product and colder refrigeration.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    -46°C
    Roussanaly 2021, p.1-3

  • Liquid CO2 temperature at 15 barg.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    -30°C
    Roussanaly 2021, p.1-3

  • Converts tonnes into liquid volume for the daily volume and the buffer storage.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    1150kg/m3
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Same use at 15 barg: the warmer liquid is less dense, so each tonne needs about 8 % more tank volume.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    1060kg/m3
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Size at which Table 3 prints the liquefaction cost; the anchor of the scale law.

    Market range Source chain studies 0.5-20 Mt/y (section 2).

    1Mt/year
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Utilisation behind the 1 Mt/y reference; used to turn the reference into a daily design flow and to show how far the chosen utilisation is from it.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    85%
    Roussanaly 2021, section 3.3

  • Daily design flow of the cost anchor. The scale law is written on this flow, so the CAPEX depends on the plant size and not on how many days it runs.

    Market range Not applicable (derived).

    3,223.207t/d
    Derived from Roussanaly 2021

  • Printed fixed OPEX at the reference size. With the 6 % fixed OPEX rule it gives the reference investment: 2.5 x 1 Mt / 0.06 = 41.7 MEUR (derived, not printed).

    Market range Table 3 total cost at 1 Mt/y: 14.0-22.8 EUR/t across all scenarios.

    2.5EUR/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Same derivation at 15 barg: 2.3 x 1 Mt / 0.06 = 38.3 MEUR.

    Market range Same Table 3 range.

    2.3EUR/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Documents the reference investment the model rebuilds in the node ref_capex_eur (EUR 2017). The model computes it from the printed fixed OPEX rather than from this rounded value.

    Market range No published investment figure for the liquefaction unit alone.

    41.7MEUR
    Derived from Roussanaly 2021

  • 15 barg counterpart of the derived reference investment.

    Market range No published investment figure for the liquefaction unit alone.

    38.3MEUR
    Derived from Roussanaly 2021

  • Printed annualised capital cost. It is NOT used to build the model; it is the independent check of the derived investment (output ref_point_capital_cost_gap_pct).

    Market range No independent range cited.

    4.2EUR/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Same independent check at 15 barg.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    4EUR/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Printed variable OPEX. Electricity at 80 EUR/MWh accounts for 7.70 of it; the remaining 0.60 EUR/t is kept as other variable OPEX (utilities and consumables the source does not itemise), independent of the electricity price.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    8.3EUR/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Same split at 15 barg: 7.23 EUR/t of electricity and a 0.57 EUR/t residual.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    7.8EUR/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Printed total at the reference point, shown as a benchmark next to the levelised cost. At the source configuration the model gives about 15.1 EUR/t; only its capital part is an independent reproduction, the two OPEX parts are rebuilt from the same table.

    14.9EUR/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • 15 barg benchmark. The model gives about 14.0 EUR/t at the source configuration.

    14EUR/t
    Roussanaly 2021, Table 3

  • Fixed O&M per year as a share of the liquefaction investment; also the rule that recovers the reference investment from the printed fixed OPEX.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    6%/year
    Roussanaly 2021, section 3.2.1

  • Scale law of the liquefaction investment on the CO2 flow. The source applies it over 0.5-20 Mt/y; below about 1,600 t/d this calculator extrapolates it (see scope_small_units).

    Market range 0.85 in the source; no other exponent cited for this unit.

    0.85
    Roussanaly 2021, Eq. 1

  • Floor of the clamp on the scaled specific investment. It never binds inside the slider range.

    Market range Not applicable (guard).

    5000EUR/(t/d)
    Model guard

  • Ceiling of the clamp on the scaled specific investment. It never binds inside the slider range.

    Market range Not applicable (guard).

    60000EUR/(t/d)
    Model guard

  • Share of the investment spent in the first construction year, carried two years at the discount rate.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    40%
    Roussanaly 2021, section 3.3

  • Share spent in the second year, carried one year.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    30%
    Roussanaly 2021, section 3.3

  • Share spent in the last year, not carried.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    30%
    Roussanaly 2021, section 3.3

  • Price behind the printed variable OPEX; used only to split it into electricity and other variable OPEX. The live electricity price is an input.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    80EUR/MWh
    Roussanaly 2021, section 3.2.1

  • Rate of the source configuration, used only by the reference-point check. The live discount rate is an input.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    8%
    Roussanaly 2021, section 3.3

  • Lifetime of the source configuration, used only by the reference-point check.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    25years
    Roussanaly 2021, section 3.3

  • Lower end of the source domain, about 1,600 t/d at 85 %. Below it the output outside_source_domain_flag is 1.

    Market range Not applicable.

    0.5Mt/year
    Roussanaly 2021, section 2

  • Upper end of the source domain; the slider (10,000 t/d, about 3.5 Mt/y at 95 %) stays below it.

    Market range Not applicable.

    20Mt/year
    Roussanaly 2021, section 2

  • Buffer storage before loading is sized on the ship cargo, not on the CO2 flow.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    1.2
    Roussanaly 2021, section 3.1.2

  • Specific investment of the 7 barg buffer tanks (EUR 2017).

    550EUR/m3
    Roussanaly 2021, section 3.2.2

  • Specific investment of the 15 barg buffer tanks: thicker walls for the higher pressure.

    920EUR/m3
    Roussanaly 2021, section 3.2.2

  • Yearly fixed O&M of the buffer storage.

    Market range No independent range cited.

    6%/year
    Roussanaly 2021, section 3.2.2

  • Independent order of magnitude for pre-pressurised CO2, consistent with the 9-17.4 kWh/t of Roussanaly Table 3. Out of scope for this calculator (CO2 at 1 bara); shown as a benchmark only.

    25kWh/t
    Element Energy 2018, p.45

  • Method: the liquefaction cost of Roussanaly et al. (2021): investment scaled with a 0.85 power law from a 1 Mt/y reference, carried over a 3-year 40/30/30 construction at the discount rate, annualised with the capital recovery factor, plus 6 % fixed O&M, electricity and a small non-electric variable OPEX, all divided by the tonnes liquefied per year.

    Market range Not applicable.

    —
    Roussanaly 2021

  • Process behind the numbers: multi-stage compression with intercooling and water knock-out (dehydration to the dew point), impurity removal, pre-cooler, liquefier, flash drum with flash gas recompression, and a two-stage ammonia vapour-compression cycle as refrigeration. The propane and self-refrigerated (open cycle) options named in industry are not modelled separately.

    Market range Not applicable.

    —
    Deng 2019

  • Small units: the source covers 0.5-20 Mt/y, about 1,600-64,000 t/d at 85 %. The slider starts at 20 t/d, so below about 1,600 t/d the 0.85 law is EXTRAPOLATED. Real small units (Nord Gas PuregasBC 25-110 t/d, Linde modular plants 100-360 t/d) probably cost more than this extrapolation. No open source was found that sets the cost below 0.5 Mt/y; the flag outside_source_domain_flag shows when you are there.

    Market range Not applicable.

    —
    Model scope

  • Pure CO2 at the inlet. An impure feed (amine capture with traces, membrane capture, refinery gas) adds impurity removal: 103-122 kWh/t and 16.5-22.8 EUR/t at 1 Mt/y in the source. The output impurity_energy_uplift_max_kwh_per_t shows the largest energy uplift; the cost uplift is not modelled.

    Market range Not applicable.

    —
    Model scope

  • CO2 at 1 bara and 40 C, as it leaves a capture plant (Longship case). CO2 already at 90 bara, delivered by pipeline, is out of scope: it needs only 9-17.4 kWh/t, and the cost and bounds of this calculator would not hold.

    Market range Not applicable.

    —
    Model scope

  • Costs are EUR 2017, north-western Europe, real terms, with no escalation. The discount rate is read as a real rate, consistent with constant euros.

    Market range Not applicable.

    —
    Model scope

  • Buffer storage before loading is shown as a separate line and is NOT in the levelised liquefaction cost: it is sized on the ship, not on the flow, so at small flows it would dominate (a 10,000 t ship is about 500 days of production at 20 t/d). It is not in the CAPEX exported to project mode either.

    Market range Not applicable.

    —
    Model scope

  • Reading: liquefaction at 7 barg costs more than at 15 barg (colder refrigeration, more power), yet the full 7 barg chain is cheaper over a wide range because ships and buffer tanks are cheaper. This calculator covers the liquefaction unit only; choose the pressure on the whole chain.

    Market range Not applicable.

    —
    Roussanaly 2021