Energy Management and Economic Considerations of Intermittent Photovoltaic-Driven Electrochemical Ammonia Production

As the energy sector shifts from fossil fuels to renewable energy, there is a need for long-duration energy storage solutions to handle the intermittency of renewable electricity. Electrofuels, or fuels synthesized from excess electricity, are an emerging medium poised to meet long-duration energy storage requirements. Ammonia as an electrofuel is potentially ideal because ammonia has a relatively low liquefaction pressure, indicating that ammonia can be easily stored and transported. Here, we develop a framework to optimize the electrochemical production of ammonia powered by intermittent photovoltaic power. We also explore various buyback policies to understand the impact that policy has on the cost of intermittent ammonia and optimal sizing ratios. The optimal ratio of the photovoltaic to the electrolyzer is ∼3.7 MW_PV/MW_ELEC for a system that is completely powered by renewable photovoltaic power and operates intermittently. The optimal ratio of the photovoltaic to the electrolyzer is ∼3.3 MW_PV/MW_ELEC for a system that uses photovoltaics in conjunction with grid electricity and operates continuously. For the purchase price at the avoided cost of electricity, the optimal ratio of the solar panel to the electrolyzer increases to ∼4 MW_PV/MW_ELEC for a system that can only sell to the grid and ∼5 MW_PV/MW_ELEC for a system that can buy and sell electricity to the grid at the avoided cost. Optimizing energy management by setting auxiliary battery size limits is essential to reducing ammonia costs, and the optimal battery size decreases as the buyback price of electricity increases. Finally, we find that systems connected to the grid and operating continuously have emissions comparable to the Haber-Bosch process because of the current emissions tied to the United States electricity generation. Thus, unless the grid is completely decarbonized, it is essential to create electrofuels that rely minimally on grid electricity.