Techno-economic feasibility of offshore wind-based ammonia production for La Guajira, North Sea, and Gulf of Roses

Abstract

This study evaluates the techno-economic feasibility of offshore wind-based ammonia production in 2035 and 2050. A pseudo-dynamic modeling framework with capacity optimization is applied to three offshore sites in Colombia, Denmark, and Spain using long-term wind data to capture multidecadal wind variability. By 2050, the lowest levelized cost of ammonia is obtained in the North Sea and La Guajira, at 436 and 472 USD t −1 , respectively, whereas the Gulf of Roses remains less competitive at about 720 USD t −1 . The flexible and inflexible Haber–Bosch operation coupled with SOEC electrolysis shows only minor differences in production cost, but inflexible operation increases hot-standby events in the Haber-Bosch loop, revealing a trade-off between operational stability and energy storage requirements. Offshore green ammonia production systems could become cost-competitive by 2050 under favorable WACC values and offshore wind cost trajectories.