Techno-economic assessment of hydrogen-based energy carriers for renewable fuel applications
The production of hydrogen-based energy carriers using renewable sources is crucial to promote the energy transition and reduce the dependency on traditional fossil fuels. This study evaluates the techno-economic performance of hydrogen, ammonia, methanol and biomethane production using electricity-...
| Autores: | , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/455875 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/455875 https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecmx.2026.101523 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Sustainable fuels Green hydrogen Power-to-gas Techno-economic analysis Renewable energy Decarbonization Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Energies::Recursos energètics renovables |
| Sumario: | The production of hydrogen-based energy carriers using renewable sources is crucial to promote the energy transition and reduce the dependency on traditional fossil fuels. This study evaluates the techno-economic performance of hydrogen, ammonia, methanol and biomethane production using electricity-based processes. Five scenarios integrating water electrolysis with chemical and biological processes were analysed using established literature data, while accounting for key technical and economic factors. Biomethane and hydrogen were the most economically competitive energy carriers with levelized costs of 122 and 160 €/MWh, respec- tively. However, biomethane production is constrained by space limitations and the availability of suitable substrates for the anaerobic digester. Ammonia and methanol feature high levelized production costs of 213 and 231–245 €/MWh, respectively. Water electrolysis accounted for over 60% of total costs, with the electrolyser load factor identified as the most sensitive technical parameter, mainly due to its high electricity consumption and capital cost. Electricity price played a major role in the economic balance, since the levelized cost increased from 24–64 to 183–395 €/MWh as the electricity price increased from 0.02 to 0.20 €/kWh, respectively. Finally, an economic assessment of the supply chain, including both energy carrier production and distribution, revealed that hydrogen levelized cost was largely influenced by the distribution distance, due to its less favourable physicochemical properties compared to ammonia, methanol and biomethane. Overall, this study highlights the economic potential of these energy carriers and underscores the importance of optimising key techno-economic factors to enhance their economic performance. |
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