Assessing Representative CCUS Layouts for China's Power Sector toward Carbon Neutrality

China's carbon neutrality target is building momentum for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), by which the power sector may attain faster decarbonization in the short term. However, an overall CCUS pipeline network blueprint remains poorly understood. This study, for the first time, links the China TIMES model and ChinaCCUS Decision Support System 2.0 to assess representative CCUS layouts for the power sector toward carbon neutrality, with the level of deployment and the maximum transportation distance from emission sources to storage sites considered. The total length of the proposed layouts under the low, medium, and high levels of deployment are about 5100, 18,000, and 37,000 km, with the annum CO₂ captures of 0.4, 1.1, and 1.7 Gt, respectively, whereas pipes of medium diameters (12, 16, and 20 in) account for the majority in all three plans. As the deployment rate increases, the layouts generally spread from Northeast, North, and Northwest China to East, South Central, and Southwest China. However, some local exceptions take place considering terrain areas that the pipeline passes through. In addition to engineering guidance, this assessment also illuminates the opportunity for improving the efficiency of CCUS based on carbon pricing.