On the economics of solar chemical processes - case study for solar co-production of methanol and power

Abstract

In several studies, the efficiency of solarized industrial processes was assessed and showed promising results. However, the economic competitiveness of such processes is a mainly unanswered question. In this work, the economic performance of a solar aided methanol production process is determined. The assessment yields promising results for the considered co-production process. The presented results also show that for a penetration of renewable energies beyond electricity production, the common support model of fixed feed-in-tariffs is not suitable. A reasonable cost for CO2 emissions or reward for their reduction will allow finding the most economic application for renewable energies independent of the end product of the process. When reasonable rewards of 75 $/tCO2 for the reduction of CO2 emissions compared to fossil reference processes are considered, the process can produce methanol and electricity at competitive prices.