The Chain / Node 06 of 8 / Storage, destination
Node 06 · The Destination

Destination storage, the buffer before offtake.

Tankage at the destination, ammonia refrigerated, methanol ambient, sized to buffer between ship arrivals and downstream draw. The molecule sits here whether it goes to a cracker or to direct offtake.

Node status
Modelled
Modelled in the Corridor Module (Sim 4). Figures below are screening-stage.
Input
Landed tonnesProduct unloaded from the delivery node into the terminal
Output
Buffered productHeld ready for downstream offtake, 14-day buffer at throughput
What it is

Where the molecule waits.

Once ashore, the molecule needs somewhere to sit until it is drawn down. Destination storage is that tankage: refrigerated tanks for ammonia, which must be kept cold, and ambient tanks for methanol, which need no refrigeration. The buffer is sized to roughly two weeks of throughput, enough to decouple ship arrivals from whatever consumes the fuel downstream.

This node is offtake-agnostic, and that is the point. The molecule sits in the same tank whether the next step is an ammonia cracker producing hydrogen, a bunkering operation fuelling ships, or a feedstock contract. The storage node does not commit to an end use; it just holds inventory. That neutrality is what lets the cracker and consumption nodes downstream stay open while this node is fully modelled.

Inputs & assumptions

What drives the node.

ParameterValueBasis
Buffer duration14 daysThroughput buffer, ship-cadence logic D
Ammonia tankage8,461 m³14 days at 150 kT/yr, refrigerated D
Methanol tankage24,276 m³14 days at 500 kT/yr, ambient D
Ammonia tank cost$900/m³Refrigerated, ~2.25× ambient E
Methanol tank cost$400/m³Ambient atmospheric storage E
Storage boil-off~0 %Negligible for both at this scale P
MMeasured
PProject-grade
EEstimate
DDesign
Outputs & economics

What the node produces.

$17.3M
Node CAPEX
$7.6M
Ammonia tankage
$9.7M
Methanol tankage
14 days
Buffer held
CAPEX lineBasisAmount
Ammonia tank (refrigerated)8,461 m³ × $900/m³$7.61M
Methanol tank (ambient)24,276 m³ × $400/m³$9.71M
Destination storage node CAPEX$17.33M
Node finding

Ammonia costs more to hold.

The two molecules diverge most sharply at storage. Methanol sits in ambient atmospheric tanks; ammonia must be kept refrigerated, which carries roughly 2.25 times the cost per cubic metre. Even though ammonia is the smaller volume here, its tankage is a comparable share of the node's cost.

What this means

The refrigeration premium on ammonia is a real design cost, not a rounding detail. It means a corridor's storage economics depend heavily on the molecule mix, an ammonia-heavy corridor carries a larger refrigerated-tankage burden than a methanol-heavy one of the same tonnage. A storage developer taking this node prices refrigeration explicitly, and the buffer duration is the main lever: a shorter buffer cuts CAPEX but tightens the margin against late ships.

Provenance & sources

Where the numbers come from.

Tank costs ($900/m³ refrigerated ammonia, $400/m³ ambient methanol): screening-stage ratios. The 2.25× ammonia premium reflects insulation and refrigeration plant. Both pending vendor quotation.

Buffer (14 days): sized to decouple ship arrivals from downstream draw. Tank volumes derived at 0.68 t/m³ ammonia and 0.79 t/m³ methanol liquid density.

Boil-off (~0%): ammonia and methanol storage boil-off is negligible at this scale, consistent with the transport-leg figures rounding to zero over short holds.

Traces to the Corridor Module (Sim 4). Tank costs are estimates pending quotation. Screening-stage, modelled.

Independence

How this node stands alone.

The node holds landed tonnes and releases them on demand. It connects to delivery upstream and to whatever draws the fuel downstream, and it commits to neither molecule's end use.

Connects upstream to
The delivery node
Receives landed product from the terminal. Any import terminal can feed this tankage; the storage operator need not own the berth.
Connects downstream to
Cracker or direct offtake
Releases product to whatever consumes it. Because the node is offtake-agnostic, it serves a cracker, a bunkering barge or a feedstock buyer without change, the open nodes downstream attach here.
Go deeper

The full model.

Simulator available
Corridor Module · Sim 4
Adjust buffer duration and tank costs, and watch the storage CAPEX recompute by molecule. The same model covers transport and delivery, the full corridor into the destination tank.
Open the simulator