Techno-Economic Assessment Of Production And Transport Of Synthetic Methane From PV And Wind Energy

This study investigates the methanation of green electricity from a combined wind and PV power plant with a peak capacity of 250 MW in three different countries (Chile, UAE, Tunisia) and the transport of the produced methane to Austria. The production costs were calculated through a simulation on an hourly basis over a span of 20 years. The economically ideal size of the conversion components were determined in a parameter study. The specifc transport costs were calculated on an annual basis. An optimistic and a pessimistic scenario were defned to represent the uncertainty of costs and technical parameters as well as two years of initial investment (2030, 2040) to refect the possible technical and economical improvement of elements along the chain. Transport from Chile and the UAE was assumed by ship in a liquefed state and from Tunisia by pipeline in a gaseous state. The resulting import costs from Tunisia were 140 - 271 C/MWh, from Chile 150 - 356 C/MWh and from the UAE 183 - 420 C/MWh.