Estimates for Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) are presented in the LCOE section of this website for two cases. The first is for the Tasersiaq Lake Concept using HVDC powerlines to Quebec City. The second is the cost of electricity at the output powerhouse with no HVDC lines.

Assuming commercial funding at 5%, the LCOE at the powerhouse is .019 $/kWh.

A detailed analysis of the cost of green ammonia production is presented in the paper Electrified ammonia production as a commodity and energy storage medium to connect the food, energy, and trade sectors, by Milind Jain et al. [45] This analysis, along with modifications particular to the Tasersiaq Lake concept, is used here as the basis for the cost estimates that follow.

The Tasersiaq Lake project characteristics differ from those described in Jain’s Base case analysis. The following analysis uses the ammonia cost model sensitivities shown in figure 2 of that report, Adjustments are made for the electricity price, ammonia output, and capacity factor of the Tasersiaq concept.

Based upon the reported cost sensitivity from Jain figure 2, the cost adjustment due to an electricity price of $ .019 /kWh gives an adjustment in the ammonia production cost from the Base case cost of $515 / tonne to an adjusted price of $ 578 / tonne.

The Tasersiaq project is expected to produce 70 kg / sec of ammonia at 60% efficiency.  Adjusting for the larger scale with respect to the Base case scale, gives a production cost adjustment from $515 / tonne to $430 /tonne.

It is anticipated that the Tasersiaq project will operate at a .95 capacity factor which is higher than the Base case capacity of .67.  This corresponds to an ammonia production cost adjustment drop from $ 515/ tonne to $ 390 / tonne

After adjustments for higher electricity price using 5% private financing, larger project scale, and higher capacity factor the estimated cost per tonne of ammonia is:

$ 515 / tonne *(578/515) * (430/515) * (390/515) = $ 365/ tonne 

Freight Costs

Current freight rates for ocean shipment using an 80,000 m^3 liquid ammonia tanker is approx. $ 83,000 / day [46].  Assume that it takes 4 days to travel from Sisimuit Greenland to Boston, two days to unload, 4 days to travel back and 2 days to load for a round trip time of 10 days.  This would cost $830,000 per load. 

The ship can carry 80,000 m^3 of ammonia which has a density of 681 kg/m^3.

Ammonia LHV heat content is 3541 kWh/m^3.

So the energy that the ship can carry is 3541 kWh/m^3 * 80000 m^3 = 2.83 * 10^8 kWh

At a conversion efficiency of 60 % it took 4.72 * 10^8 kWh of electricity to create that load.

The yearly production of electricity at the powerhouse is 1.97 * 10^10 kWh

This is 42 ship loads of ammonia each year.  The transportation cost is $34.9 million / yr.

So, the yearly ammonia production is 80000 m^3 * 42 shiploads = 3.36 * 10^6 m^3

At .681 tonnes/ m^3 this is 2.29 * 10^6 tonnes of ammonia annually

So, the shipping cost is ($34.9 million / 2.29 million) per tonne = $15.2 per tonne.  

Adding the freight costs of $15.2 per tonne  the estimated ammonia cost per tonne for 5% private financing is $381 per tonne delivered to Boston.

The cost of producing ammonia from natural gas at a natural gas price of $ 3.00 per MMBtu is approximately $220 per tonne without CO2 sequestration or $300 per tonne with CO2 sequestration. [43] So the cost of producing and shipping ammonia from the Tasersiaq Lake project is currently not competitive with the cost of ammonia produced from natural gas.

Citations and Links:

43.  The Cost of CO2-free Ammonia, Ammonia Energy, Bunro Shiozawa, Nov 12, 2020  The Cost of CO2-free Ammonia – Ammonia Energy Association

45.  Electrified ammonia production as a commodity and energy storage medium to connect the food, energy, and trade sectors, by Milind Jain, Rithu Muthalathu, Xiao-Yu Wu,  iScience Vol. 25,Issue 8, 19 Aug. 2022, 104724 Electrified ammonia production as a commodity and energy storage medium to connect the food, energy, and trade sectors – ScienceDirect

46.  Very Large Gas Carrier (VLGC) freight VLGC rates rebound after hitting floor as shipowners hold ground | S&P Global Commodity Insights (spglobal.com)