Direct air capture (DAC) is anticipated to play a pivotal role in Saudi Arabia’s net-zero strategy, particularly in offsetting residual emissions from hard-to-abate sectors. This study presents a techno-economic assessment of low-temperature solid-sorbent DAC systems tailored to the Kingdom’s energy and industrial context. We evaluate configurations that combine three electricity options – grid power, solar photovoltaics with battery storage (PV + batt), and wind with battery storage (wind + batt) – with four heat sources: (i) industrial waste heat, (ii) heat from combined-cycle gas turbines with carbon capture and storage (CCGT+CCS), (iii) electric boilers, and (iv) heat pumps. For each configuration, we estimate the net levelized cost of DAC (net LCOD) for a reference plant with a capacity of 1 MtCO2/year. Our analysis indicates that the LCOD ranges from $285 to $826 per tonne, with heat source selection emerging as the dominant cost driver.
