1. Techno-economic assessment of green hydrogen and ammonia production from wind and solar energy in Iran.
- Author
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Kakavand, Ali, Sayadi, Saeed, Tsatsaronis, George, and Behbahaninia, Ali
- Subjects
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HYDROGEN production , *SOLAR energy , *SOLAR wind , *WIND power , *WATER electrolysis , *ATMOSPHERIC ammonia , *HABER-Bosch process , *ATMOSPHERIC nitrogen - Abstract
This paper presents a comprehensive technical and economic assessment of potential green hydrogen and ammonia production plants in different locations in Iran with strong wind and solar resources. The study was organized in five steps. First, regarding the wind density and solar PV potential data, three locations in Iran were chosen with the highest wind power, solar radiation, and a combination of both wind/solar energy. All these locations are inland spots, but since the produced ammonia is planned to be exported, it must be transported to the export harbor in the South of Iran. For comparison, a base case was also considered next to the export harbor with normal solar and wind potential, but no distance from the export harbor. In the second step, a similar large-scale hydrogen production facility with proton exchange membrane electrolyzers was modeled for all these locations using the HOMER Pro simulation platform. In the next step, the produced hydrogen and the nitrogen obtained from an air separation unit are supplied to a Haber-Bosch process to synthesize ammonia as a hydrogen carrier. Since water electrolysis requires a considerable amount of water with specific quality and because Iran suffers from water scarcity, this paper, unlike many similar research studies, addresses the challenges associated with the water supply system in the hydrogen production process. In this regard, in the fourth step of this study, it is assumed that seawater from the nearest sea is treated in a desalination plant and sent to the site locations. Finally, since this study intends to evaluate the possibility of green hydrogen export from Iran, a detailed piping model for the transportation of water, hydrogen, and ammonia from/to the production site and the export harbor is created in the last step, which considers the real routs using satellite images, and takes into account all pump/compression stations required to transport these media. This study provides a realistic cost of green hydrogen/ammonia production in Iran, which is ready to be exported, considering all related processes involved in the hydrogen supply chain. • The minimum cost of green H2 in Iran was calculated to be between 2.94 and 3.32 USD/kgH 2. • The minimum cost of green NH3 in Iran was obtained between 580 and 641 USD/tNH 3. • H2 transportation via pipelines to the export harbor is the costliest scenario. • More than two-thirds of the cost of NH3 is caused by the power generation system. • Integrating green electricity into the Iranian grid is better than the P2A route. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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