The value of ammonia towards integrated power and heat system decarbonisation

12 December 2023, Version 1
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

As UK is legally bound to Net Zero goal, deep decarbonisation of wide power and heat systems constitutes a focal point of research. With heat being the biggest energy consumer in the UK, sector coupling emerges as imperative towards cost-efficient decarbonisation. Pathways including dense energy carriers (DEC), which can store excessive intermittent renewable energy, offer alternative options for optimal system's operation. In this work, the role of hydrogen and ammonia as energy vectors in Great Britain’s (GB) power system planning is examined. Dense energy carriers' pathways are modelled to offer additional energy storage, transport and electricity generation options for the system. A spatially-explicit snapshot model is developed, whose temporal resolution captures the short- and long-term dynamics of demands and renewable sources through a novel fine-grained chronological clustering. Ultimately, integrated capacity planning and operational optimisation in GB is conducted for a target year via the snapshot model. Regional power and heat demands are determined as the heat fuel consumption mix is optimised. Key findings include that under various scenarios up to 80\% heat electrification can be cost effectively achieved through the flexibility offered by up to 6 TWh of ammonia storage for annual inter-seasonal storage.

Keywords

Ammonia
Heat decarbonisation
Dense energy carriers
Power decarbonisation
Energy systems planning

Supplementary materials

Title
Description
Actions
Title
Supplementary Material: The value of ammonia towards integrated power and heat system decarbonisation
Description
Supplementary material & data
Actions

Comments

Comments are not moderated before they are posted, but they can be removed by the site moderators if they are found to be in contravention of our Commenting Policy [opens in a new tab] - please read this policy before you post. Comments should be used for scholarly discussion of the content in question. You can find more information about how to use the commenting feature here [opens in a new tab] .
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy [opens in a new tab] and Terms of Service [opens in a new tab] apply.