Green methanol – succesful calculation of costs

Great News! Under the leadership of Prof. Ralf Peters (IEK-14: Electrochemical Process Engineering), our partners from Jülich Research Centre have taken on the costs of producing and transporting green hydrogen and methanol from windy and sunny regions. Saudi Arabia is one of these advantageous regions, but also Chile or Australia. Possible customer regions are Europe, North America or Asia. The following four example paths were calculated in the cost calculation from Jülich:

  • Chile → USA
  • Saudi Arabia → Germany
  • Saudi Arabia → Japan
  • Australia → Japan

The team around Peters based the costs of production and transportation of hydrogen on the current study of the Hydrogen Council.¹ The transport costs for methanol were calculated with 2.53*10-5 USD/(GJ*km).² The results speak for themselves: Among the assumed and conclusive figures, prices of 0,88-1,08 €/lDieselequivalent (DE) are feasible via the transport route Jeddah – Hamburg! This corresponds to 0,49-0,6 € per kg renewable methanol.

Against this background, the economical profitability of synthetic fuels is getting much closer. The map illustrates the indispensability of an increased international cooperation and a bundled know-how. Especially a fitting political framework and close cooperation that enable new approaches, a technology-open strategy and investment security are now crucial for a quick market launch. It is important to create incentives in order to achieve planning security for future suppliers, consumers and investors at home and abroad.

¹„Path to hydrogen competitiveness: A cost perspective“ Hydrogen Council 2020.

²Pfennig, M. et al., Mittel- und langfristige Potenziale von PtL- und H2-Importen aus internationalen EE-Vorzugsregionen, Fraunhofer-Institut für Windenergie und Energiesystemtechnik, (2017).

 

 

Prof. Ralf Peters
IEK-14: Elektrochemische Verfahrenstechnik
FZ Jülich GmbH
ra.peters@fz-juelich.de