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Cost of making ammonia from natural gas and from wind and solar power (Arnaiz del Pozo & Cloete 2022)

The levelised cost of a tonne of ammonia from natural-gas plants that release their CO2, natural-gas plants that capture it (blue ammonia) and plants run on wind and solar power (green ammonia), modelled by Arnaiz del Pozo and Cloete (2022) with one synthesis loop and one cost method. The natural-gas plants pay a CO2 tax of 100 euros per tonne on what they emit, which is included in their cost; the green plants use technology costs expected for 2050.

Latest value

479.0€/t

Natural-gas plants at European energy prices (Western Europe cost basis) and in Saudi Arabia; green plants in northern Germany, southern Spain and Saudi Arabia, 2050 (projection). Version Energy Conversion and Management 255, 115312 (2022).

As published

“Using cost assumptions applicable to 2050, fully optimized green ammonia production from wind and solar power with electrolysers and energy storage showed substantially higher costs than the blue NH3 alternatives: 772.1, 569.3, and 484.7 €/ton in Northern Germany, Southern Spain, and Saudi Arabia, respectively. Moreover, the LCOA of blue NH3 production in Saudi Arabia reduced to 192.7 €/ton with the GSR process due to much lower energy costs.”

Levelised cost of blue and green ammonia (Arnaiz del Pozo & Cloete 2022), Section 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 15. Checked word for word against the stored copy of the document every time the data is rebuilt.

Every value

Cost of making ammonia from natural gas and from wind and solar power (Arnaiz del Pozo & Cloete 2022), every published value
How the ammonia is madeSideWhere and at what energy pricesPeriodValue (€/t)Status
KBR Purifier process without CO2 captureSection 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 14: "without CCS, the cost rises to 479.0"Natural gas, CO2 releasedSection 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 14: "without CCS, the cost rises to 479.0"European energy prices (natural gas 6.5 €/GJ, electricity 60 €/MWh)Section 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 14: "without CCS, the cost rises to 479.0"2050479.0projection
KBR Purifier process with CO2 captureSection 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 14: "the KBR process achieves a levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) of 385.9"Natural gas with CO2 capture (blue)Section 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 14: "the KBR process achieves a levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) of 385.9"European energy prices (natural gas 6.5 €/GJ, electricity 60 €/MWh)Section 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 14: "the KBR process achieves a levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) of 385.9"2050385.9projection
Linde Ammonia Concept (LAC) with CO2 captureSection 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 15: "The LAC plant reaches an almost identical LCOA as the KBR (385.1"Natural gas with CO2 capture (blue)Section 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 15: "The LAC plant reaches an almost identical LCOA as the KBR (385.1"European energy prices (natural gas 6.5 €/GJ, electricity 60 €/MWh)Section 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 15: "The LAC plant reaches an almost identical LCOA as the KBR (385.1"2050385.1projection
Gas switching reforming (GSR), advanced blue ammoniaSection 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 15: "for the GSR concept the cost falls to 332.1" / Abstract, p. 1: "the GSR concept achieved an attractive levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) of 332.1"Natural gas with CO2 capture (blue)Section 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 15: "for the GSR concept the cost falls to 332.1" / Abstract, p. 1: "the GSR concept achieved an attractive levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) of 332.1"European energy prices (natural gas 6.5 €/GJ, electricity 60 €/MWh)Section 4 (Summary & conclusions), p. 15: "for the GSR concept the cost falls to 332.1" / Abstract, p. 1: "the GSR concept achieved an attractive levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) of 332.1"2050332.1projection

Where it comes from

Producer
Carlos Arnaiz del Pozo (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) and Schalk Cloete (SINTEF Industry); published in Energy Conversion and Management (Elsevier) · Levelised cost of blue and green ammonia (Arnaiz del Pozo & Cloete 2022)
Version
Energy Conversion and Management 255, 115312 (2022)
File
https://oa.upm.es/86025/3/86025.pdf
Fetched
2026-10-08 (automatically), 5,296,008 bytes
Fingerprint
sha256 9473fa567ff47afc01ee1b9f20981fea577495ba527c1eb6ccebc5c9c3676387ETag 37874cf7be3901dfcdab26f5ec2f1476 · Last-Modified Tue, 14 Jan 2025 10:09:15 GMT
Copies
No Wayback copy recorded yet.Our copy of the exact file
Cite the producer
Arnaiz del Pozo, C. & Cloete, S. (2022). Techno-economic assessment of blue and green ammonia as energy carriers in a low-carbon future. Energy Conversion and Management 255, 115312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2022.115312

What was done to it

  1. Read the text of the article's version-of-record PDF (sha256 9473fa567ff4…, the copy on the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid repository) and found 10 passages from the abstract, section 3.2.3, section 4 and Tables 3 and 4 word for word on their pages.

    Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/green_premium/ammonia_arnaiz_del_pozo_2022.py · code sha256 34796ff32ad703a6… · inputs 9473fa567ff4…

  2. Published the 8 levelised costs of ammonia that the passages state, exactly as printed, in euros per tonne. Values listed with several places are read in the order the places are named. Where the abstract repeats a value, both statements agree and both are in the value's note.

    Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/green_premium/ammonia_arnaiz_del_pozo_2022.py · code sha256 34796ff32ad703a6… · inputs 9473fa567ff4…

  3. Placed the plants costed at European energy prices at 'Europe, as the study defines it', the green plants in Germany, Spain and Saudi Arabia, and the gas switching reforming plant at Saudi prices in Saudi Arabia. Nothing was subtracted or divided: the conventional and lower-carbon costs are shown side by side as the article gives them.

    Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/green_premium/ammonia_arnaiz_del_pozo_2022.py · code sha256 34796ff32ad703a6… · inputs 9473fa567ff4…

What it covers

Geography
Natural-gas plants at European energy prices (Western Europe cost basis) and in Saudi Arabia; green plants in northern Germany, southern Spain and Saudi Arabia
Basis
Modelled levelised cost (cash-flow analysis: discount rate 8%, 25-year life, 2020 euros), not market prices. The article compares all plants under what it calls consistent assumptions for 2050. The cost of the natural-gas plants includes a CO2 tax of 100 euros per tonne of CO2 emitted and 20 euros per tonne for CO2 transport and storage (none in Saudi Arabia).
Unit
euros per tonne of ammonia (2020 euros) (€/t)