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Question

Green Ammonia efficiency: What is the production cost for a (produced) green ammonia?

Vitalie Ciobanu's picture
Market Intelligence Analyst, Borealis

Competitive & Market Intelligence | Analytics | Strategy | Financial Insights Energy | Gas: European gas market news | Green Economy | Green Hydrogen | Clean Ammonia *Working for Borealis but...

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  • Feb 20, 2023
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We are still in a new territory, but I would like to learn an appropriate model for green ammonia production (electrolysis).  I was focused on existing pilot in Europe for 20000 tons per year, with the input for hydrogen price of 3200 USD/t (solar) and nitrogen of 360 USD/t (air separation plant). In this case I would end-up with the production cost (variable + fixed) at 880 USD/t green ammonia.

Would this cost sound realistic to you? Is comparable with other production costs in other regions, other than Europe?

Thank you!

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It looks like you are well into understanding that the price of green ammonia depends heavily on the price of green hydrogen. Although I have written several posts on this in the past, the ones described below are my most recent relevant post.s The first is specifically about the cost of green (and other colors of) ammonia, the second is about the cost of hydrogen. One other thing: in these posts I try to provide references, including links to all of my information sources, so these might lead a bit farther in your quest.

Release the Crackers: This paper will investigate why ammonia is probably the best carrier for hydrogen, possibly can be used directly as a fuel, and the latest developments in ammonia technology including crackers.
https://energycentral.com/c/ec/release-crackers

13.2.    Economics of Green Hydrogen
Most that have looked at the economics of the title fuel believe that it will play an important role in the transition to a greenhouse gas free economy in future years. However the big question is, when?
First of all this answer depends not only on the specific application of this fuel, and the technology to convert the fuel back to energy, but also the application profile and where it is being evaluated.
In this post we will look at the general case – how much is it likely to cost to produce and store green hydrogen at various points in the future. We will also look at other factors that reduce or increase these costs. Finally we will end with a brief section that contains links to various other publications that will let readers drill down for additional information regarding specific applications.
https://energycentral.com/c/cp/economics-green-hydrogen

-John

Vitalie Ciobanu's picture
Vitalie Ciobanu on Feb 28, 2023

Thanks John for sharing it. Interesting. Would you have in focus in the past on Methane Pyrolysis too? 

These people have a tendency to be optimistic.  But if you look at their Executive Summary, and take $8.81/kg H2 as their starting cost, and 907.185 kg/ton, you come up with a cost per ton of $7,992.30/ton H2.  See  

https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/final_icct2020_assessment_of%20_hydrogen_production_costs%20v2.pdf

(10 of 81).

Vitalie Ciobanu's picture
Vitalie Ciobanu on Feb 21, 2023

Julian, thanks for sharing the info. I see what you mean

Charles Botsford, PE's picture
Charles Botsford, PE on Feb 27, 2023

Julian,

Thanks for the link to the ICCT paper. It's a great source. 

Charles, it considers delivered to the plant (solar source). What would be your price ideas for hydrogen?

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