Renewable-to-Ammonia: Configuration Strategy and Technoeconomic Analysis

Abstract

The increasing demand for nitrogen fertilizer and chemical raw materials has provided an opportunity for the ammonia (NH₃) industry. Although there are many excellent reviews proposing operation control strategies and capacity configuration strategies of renewable-to-ammonia (RE2A) systems, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to topics of public interest. Therefore, this paper proposes a technoeconomic model to research the optimal capacity configuration and quantify the levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) for RE2A. A cost model of coal-to-ammonia (C2A) is established as a benchmark to evaluate the economic feasibility of RE2A. A case study is adopted to verify the validity of the proposed approach. It is shown that the monthly NH₃ output is 6-10% of the annual output, which satisfies actual industrial production. The LCOA of RE2A is 507$/t, with investments in wind turbines and electrolysers accounting for 57% and 20%, respectively, which is lower than the NH₃ market price (605-650$/t) in China at present. The LCOA of RE2A will equal the LCOA of C2A with an extra carbon tax of 47.5$/t, which confirms the economic and environmental advantages of RE2A in the long run. The sensitivity analysis of RE2A in comparison with C2A provides valuable guidelines for the application of RE2A.