Climate finance-driven feasibility study of a green ammonia and urea production plant in Italy

Ammonia is an essential feedstock widely used in the chemical sector with interesting new potential uses as fuel and hydrogen vector. Most of the produced ammonia is utilized in the manufacturing of urea. Industrial scale production relies on fossil fuels but, considering the energy transition path, a decarbonization of the sector is required. The proposed study developed a techno-economic assessment with an integrated climate finance analysis of a medium scale green ammonia and urea plant located in the South of Italy. Five different scenarios of production, all based on the electrolysis of desalinated water, were evaluated in terms of levelized cost of product, levelized cost of carbon abatement and emission intensity. Based on the output of the analysis, an enhanced scenario was further proposed to maximize the reuse and the monetization of the by-products: this scenario resulted in a competitive levelized cost of products of 640 EUR/ton of ammonia and 415 EUR/ton of urea respectively. A substantial decarbonization of ammonia and urea, with emission intensities well below the limitations set out by the new European standards, was obtained. The methodological approach developed proved climate finance to be a key economic instrument to enable decarbonization.