Estimating global production and supply costs for green hydrogen and hydrogen-based green energy commodities

Green energy commodities are expected to be central in decarbonising the global energy system. Such green energy commodities could be hydrogen or other hydrogen-based en-ergy commodities produced from renewable energy sources (RES) such as solar or wind energy. We quantify the production cost and potentials of hydrogen and hydrogen-based energy commodities ammonia, methane, methanol, gasoline, diesel and kerosene in 113 countries. Moreover, we evaluate total supply costs to Germany, considering both pipeline -based and maritime transport. We determine production costs by optimising the invest-ment and operation of commodity production from dedicated RES based on country-level RES potentials and country-specific weighted average costs of capital. Analysing the geographic distribution of production and supply costs, we find that production costs dominate the supply cost composition for liquid or easily liquefiable commodities, while transport costs dominate for gaseous commodities. In the case of Germany, importing green ammonia could be more cost-efficient than domestic production from locally pro-duced or imported hydrogen. Green ammonia could be supplied to Germany from many regions worldwide at below the cost of domestic production, with costs ranging from 624 to 874 $/t NH3 and Norway being the cheapest supplier. Ammonia production using imported hydrogen from Spain could be cost-effective if a pan-European hydrogen pipeline grid based on repurposed natural gas pipelines exists.(c) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Green energy commodities, such as hydrogen, are crucial in decarbonizing the global energy system. This study examines the production costs and potentials of hydrogen-based energy commodities in various countries, highlighting the dominance of production costs for liquid or easily liquefiable commodities and transport costs for gaseous commodities. Importing green ammonia could be a cost-effective option for Germany, with Norway being the cheapest supplier. The existence of a pan-European hydrogen pipeline grid could make ammonia production using imported hydrogen from Spain a viable option.