IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v394y2025ics0306261925009006.html

Techno-economic comparison of ammonia cracking and methane pyrolysis for hydrogen turbine integration in clean power generation: Insights from the world's first clean hydrogen portfolio standard market in South Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Kim, Hyun Seung

Abstract

The global transition to low-carbon energy is accelerating, with increasing interest in hydrogen (H2) turbines as a solution to the intermittency of renewable energy. A stable and efficient H2 supply is crucial, and ammonia cracking (AC) and methane pyrolysis (MP) are considered economically viable and environmentally sustainable options. This study evaluates optimal clean H2 production and power generation technologies within the South Korea clean hydrogen portfolio standard (CHPS) bidding market, considering both economic and environmental factors. An integrated H2 production and power generation system is proposed, and its economic and environmental performance is analyzed. A levelized cost of electricity analysis indicates that both the MP-integrated H2 turbine (MPHT; $0.344/kWh) and AC-integrated H2 turbine (ACHT; $0.364/kWh) fall within the CHPS ceiling price, with the MPHT being the more cost-effective option. Both technologies are environmentally cleaner than conventional power sources; however, the ACHT emits 0.16 kg CO2-eq/kWh less, making it the cleaner alternative, whereas the MPHT demonstrates greater resilience to economic uncertainties and shifts in carbon policy. Both technologies are viable within the South Korea CHPS bidding market. This study supports the development of sustainable energy policies and informs technology selection by assessing the competitiveness and feasibility of H2-based power generation.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim, Hyun Seung, 2025. "Techno-economic comparison of ammonia cracking and methane pyrolysis for hydrogen turbine integration in clean power generation: Insights from the world's first clean hydrogen portfolio standard market in South Korea," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 394(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:394:y:2025:i:c:s0306261925009006
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.126170
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261925009006
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.126170?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Razzaq, Asif & Sharif, Arshian & Ozturk, Ilhan & Afshan, Sahar, 2023. "Dynamic and threshold effects of energy transition and environmental governance on green growth in COP26 framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    2. Ashik, U.P.M. & Wan Daud, W.M.A. & Abbas, Hazzim F., 2015. "Production of greenhouse gas free hydrogen by thermocatalytic decomposition of methane – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 221-256.
    3. Mohammed H. Alsharif & Jeong Kim & Jin Hong Kim, 2018. "Opportunities and Challenges of Solar and Wind Energy in South Korea: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-23, June.
    4. Cha, Junyoung & Park, Yongha & Brigljević, Boris & Lee, Boreum & Lim, Dongjun & Lee, Taeho & Jeong, Hyangsoo & Kim, Yongmin & Sohn, Hyuntae & Mikulčić, Hrvoje & Lee, Kyung Moon & Nam, Dong Hoon & Lee,, 2021. "An efficient process for sustainable and scalable hydrogen production from green ammonia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    5. Razmi, Amir Reza & Hanifi, Amir Reza & Shahbakhti, Mahdi, 2024. "Techno-economic analysis of a novel concept for the combination of methane pyrolysis in molten salt with heliostat solar field," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    6. Buttler, Alexander & Spliethoff, Hartmut, 2018. "Current status of water electrolysis for energy storage, grid balancing and sector coupling via power-to-gas and power-to-liquids: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2440-2454.
    7. Hiyam Farhat & Coriolano Salvini, 2022. "Novel Gas Turbine Challenges to Support the Clean Energy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-17, July.
    8. Cesaro, Zac & Ives, Matthew & Nayak-Luke, Richard & Mason, Mike & Bañares-Alcántara, René, 2021. "Ammonia to power: Forecasting the levelized cost of electricity from green ammonia in large-scale power plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PA).
    9. Razmjoo, A. & Gakenia Kaigutha, L. & Vaziri Rad, M.A. & Marzband, M. & Davarpanah, A. & Denai, M., 2021. "A Technical analysis investigating energy sustainability utilizing reliable renewable energy sources to reduce CO2 emissions in a high potential area," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 46-57.
    10. Patlolla, Shashank Reddy & Katsu, Kyle & Sharafian, Amir & Wei, Kevin & Herrera, Omar E. & Mérida, Walter, 2023. "A review of methane pyrolysis technologies for hydrogen production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    11. Razmi, Amir Reza & Hanifi, Amir Reza & Shahbakhti, Mahdi, 2025. "A comparative techno-economic assessment between solar-based hydrogen production by methane pyrolysis and water electrolysis methods," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    12. Olabi, A.G. & Abdelkareem, Mohammad Ali, 2022. "Renewable energy and climate change," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    13. Abd, Ammar Ali & Othman, Mohd Roslee & Majdi, Hasan Sh & Helwani, Zuchra, 2023. "Green route for biomethane and hydrogen production via integration of biogas upgrading using pressure swing adsorption and steam-methane reforming process," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 64-78.
    14. Pashchenko, Dmitry, 2023. "Hydrogen-rich gas as a fuel for the gas turbines: A pathway to lower CO2 emission," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Enaloui, Reza & Sharifi, Shakiba & Faridpak, Behdad & Hammad, Ahmed & Al-Hussein, Mohamed & Musilek, Petr, 2025. "Techno-economic assessment of a solar-powered green hydrogen storage concept based on reversible solid oxide cells for residential micro-grid: A case study in Calgary," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 319(C).
    2. Yang, Bin & Wu, Qiong & Sharif, Arshian & Uddin, Gazi Salah, 2023. "Non-linear impact of natural resources, green financing, and energy transition on sustainable environment: A way out for common prosperity in NORDIC countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Liu, Hui & Liu, Wenbiao & Wu, Yanfeng & Du, Zhe & Xue, Tingting & Manesh, Afshin Mohammadi & Xu, Jun & Jiang, Tao, 2025. "ANN-assisted optimization of a solar-to-X system for green hydrogen production, CO2 capture, and methanol-based energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    4. Razmi, Amir Reza & Hanifi, Amir Reza & Shahbakhti, Mahdi, 2025. "A comparative techno-economic assessment between solar-based hydrogen production by methane pyrolysis and water electrolysis methods," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    5. Kar, Sumi & Basu, Kajla & Sarkar, Biswajit, 2023. "Advertisement policy for dual-channel within emissions-controlled flexible production system," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    6. Busola D. Akintayo & Oluwafemi E. Ige & Olubayo M. Babatunde & Oludolapo A. Olanrewaju, 2023. "Evaluation and Prioritization of Power-Generating Systems Using a Life Cycle Assessment and a Multicriteria Decision-Making Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-18, September.
    7. Kim, Sunwoo & Choi, Yechan & Park, Joungho & Adams, Derrick & Heo, Seongmin & Lee, Jay H., 2024. "Multi-period, multi-timescale stochastic optimization model for simultaneous capacity investment and energy management decisions for hybrid Micro-Grids with green hydrogen production under uncertainty," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 190(PA).
    8. Wang, Shuaibing & Lin, Haitao & Abed, Azher M. & Mahariq, Ibrahim & Ayed, Hamdi & Mouldi, Abir & Lin, Zhixiang, 2024. "Life cycle analysis of biowaste-to- biogas/biomethane processes: Cost and environmental assessment of four different biowaste scenarios organic fraction of municipal solid waste and secondary sewage s," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    9. Razmi, Amir Reza & Hanifi, Amir Reza & Shahbakhti, Mahdi, 2023. "Design, thermodynamic, and economic analyses of a green hydrogen storage concept based on solid oxide electrolyzer/fuel cells and heliostat solar field," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    10. Oliver Wagner & Thomas Adisorn & Lena Tholen & Dagmar Kiyar, 2020. "Surviving the Energy Transition: Development of a Proposal for Evaluating Sustainable Business Models for Incumbents in Germany’s Electricity Market," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, February.
    11. Luigi Fortuna & Arturo Buscarino, 2022. "Sustainable Energy Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-7, December.
    12. Mucci, Simone & Stumm, Marc-Daniel & Rix, Michael J. & Mitsos, Alexander, 2025. "Model-based evaluation of ammonia energy storage concepts at high technological readiness level," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PB).
    13. d'Amore-Domenech, Rafael & Leo, Teresa J. & Pollet, Bruno G., 2021. "Bulk power transmission at sea: Life cycle cost comparison of electricity and hydrogen as energy vectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    14. Zhou, Xiao & Abed, Azher M. & Abdullaev, Sherzod & Lei, Guoliang & He, Li & Li, Xuetao & Elmasry, Yasser & Mahariq, Ibrahim, 2024. "Data-driven study/optimization of a solar power and cooling generation system in a transient operation mode and proposing a novel multi-turbine modification concept to reduce the sun's intermittent ef," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    15. Engstam, Linus & Janke, Leandro & Sundberg, Cecilia & Nordberg, Åke, 2025. "Optimising power-to-gas integration with wastewater treatment and biogas: A techno-economic assessment of CO2 and by-product utilisation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PB).
    16. Ives, Matthew & Cesaro, Zac & Bramstoft, Rasmus & Bañares-Alcántara, René, 2023. "Facilitating deep decarbonization via sector coupling of green hydrogen and ammonia," INET Oxford Working Papers 2023-04, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    17. Gao, Jin & Wang, Youyin & Yu, Yuejie & Sun, Weiheng & Zhang, Junlong & Bao, Wen, 2025. "Modeling and analysis of methane-fueled turboexpander engine under the consideration of chemical non-equilibrium," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    18. Kim, Taehyun & Oh, Sebin & Kim, Dohee & Park, Jinwoo, 2025. "Achieving near-zero emissions and cost-effective hydrogen production through the Allam cycle and solid oxide electrolysis cells integration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    19. Yong Zuo & Sebastiano Bellani & Michele Ferri & Gabriele Saleh & Dipak V. Shinde & Marilena Isabella Zappia & Rosaria Brescia & Mirko Prato & Luca Trizio & Ivan Infante & Francesco Bonaccorso & Libera, 2023. "High-performance alkaline water electrolyzers based on Ru-perturbed Cu nanoplatelets cathode," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    20. Johannes Full & Silja Hohmann & Sonja Ziehn & Edgar Gamero & Tobias Schließ & Hans-Peter Schmid & Robert Miehe & Alexander Sauer, 2023. "Perspectives of Biogas Plants as BECCS Facilities: A Comparative Analysis of Biomethane vs. Biohydrogen Production with Carbon Capture and Storage or Use (CCS/CCU)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-16, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:394:y:2025:i:c:s0306261925009006. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.