Economic analysis of P2X applications for the maritime sector

Abstract

In recent years the application of P2X for e-fuel production has been seen as a viable solution to cut the emissions expelled from the maritime sector. The potential of e-fuels attracted researchers’ attention to assess it as an important scientific field of energy transition. When seen in this light, the primary enabling factors that need more investigation and research are cost and emission reduction. This research focuses on the cost-comparison of producing e-fuels using P2X technology. It compares the initial and total cost requirements of manufacturing the four most promising e-fuels, including e-liquefied hydrogen, e-LNG, e-ammonia, and e-methanol, over a year to meet a constant need for energy for the maritime sector. The power needed for P2X is provided by a wind farm near Joutseno, Finland, in this case study. The cost optimization is done utilizing GAMS software and it is revealed that although e-liquefied hydrogen is the most cost-effective e-fuel among the four in general, given the minimum range of CAPEX for carbon capturing and doing it from the point source of a cement industry located in Joutseno, the e-methanol production cost decreases to substitute e-liquefied hydrogen as the most cost-effective e-fuel.