Techno-Economic Assessment of Large-Scale Green Hydrogen Logistics Using Ammonia As Hydrogen Carrier: Comparison to Liquified Hydrogen Distribution and In Situ Production

Abstract

Green hydrogen plays a key role in decarbonizing the economy. However, the best conditions for producing it are often far from consumption places. This work compares three alternatives for large-scale green hydrogen distribution based on the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH): the use of green ammonia as a hydrogen carrier, the use of liquid hydrogen, and on-site production. All of the alternatives include production, packing, transport, and unpacking of hydrogen. Results show that liquid hydrogen outperforms the other alternatives in most cases. Only if the renewable electricity price in the destination site and hydrogen demand are low enough does on-site production become attractive. A demand of 1 MtH2/y leads to a LCOH equal to 5.14 USD/kgH2 when imported by ship as liquid hydrogen from 7,200 km away and considering electricity prices of 40 USD/MWh in the production site and 100 USD/MWh in the destination. Analogously, LCOH is 9.01 USD/kgH2 when produced in situ and 10.25 USD/kgH2 using ammonia as a hydrogen carrier. The ammonia alternative is attractive if ammonia is the desired good at the destination, or when it does not matter to import any of both fuels from the levelized cost of energy viewpoint. Blue hydrogen LCOH is estimated to be 65% cheaper than green hydrogen under similar scenarios.