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July
3, 2023
By
CGTN
China generates 99.9% pure 'green hydrogen' as largest H2 producer
A bird's-eye view of a solar energy
power station in Ordos City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region, July 17, 2022. /CFP
The world's largest green hydrogen project, which
generates hydrogen from solar and wind renewables without emitting
carbon dioxide, produced its first batch of "green hydrogen" on
Thursday in Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China.
According to the World Economic Forum's latest
white paper, China is the largest producer and consumer of hydrogen
globally, but less than 0.1 percent of the hydrogen it produces comes
from renewable energy sources.
This new project is anticipated to yield an annual production of
30,000 tonnes of green hydrogen and 240,000 tonnes of green oxygen,
resulting in a reduction of approximately 1.43 million tonnes of
carbon dioxide emissions per year. To put it in perspective, this
reduction is equivalent to planting 825,000 trees. China Petroleum &
Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), the country's largest hydrogen
producer, provided this information.
Making full advantage of its bountiful wind and
solar resources, Ordos is an ideal location for the green project. The
initiative combines two clean energy sources: solar power and
hydrogen. It employs an electrolysis device that utilizes green
electricity generated from solar energy to decompose water into
hydrogen and oxygen.
The project marks Sinopec's second green hydrogen
project, following the one in Kuqa City, northwest China's Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region, the construction of which began in 2021. Liu
Shiliang, general manager of Sinopec Star, told China Media Group
(CMG) that the Kuqa plant went into operation on Friday with hydrogen
purity reaching 99.9 percent.
The hydrogen production capacity electrolyzed
water of the Kuqa plant is 20,000 tonnes per year, and the hydrogen
storage capacity is 210,000 standard cubic meters, with the hydrogen
transmission capacity reaching 28,000 standard cubic meters per hour.
The green hydrogen and green oxygen produced by
the project will be transported through pipelines to a coal-deep
processing project. This will replace the existing coal-to-hydrogen
process, promoting the clean and low-carbon transformation of
coal-powered chemical products. Xu Zhendong, the executive director of
Sinopec Star Petroleum's Inner Mongolia branch, shared this
information with CMG.
By exploring a pollution-free and zero-energy
approach, this new hydrogen production model addresses a crucial issue
of power balance and consumption in the grid's high proportion of
renewable energy connections.
China tests its hydrogen production technology at sea with a direct
seawater electrolysis method on Friday at the Xinghua Bay offshore
wind farm, southeast China's Fujian Province, June 2, 2023. /CMG
Tech-driven production
Green hydrogen has emerged as a crucial component
in the development of the hydrogen industry, offering a pathway
towards a low-carbon and sustainable future, according to an expert
who spoke at the World
Hydrogen Technology Convention 2023 last month.
By the end of 2022, the number of fuel cell
vehicles in the world had reached 67,000, a 36 percent increase year
on year. Hydrogen energy technology research and development and
industrial development have entered a new stage of rapid development,
said Wan Gang, chairman of the China Association for Science and
Technology.
Wan stressed the significance of the synergy
among industries to break through in key technologies and high-level
international cooperation in hydrogen energy development.
Hydrogen can be produced from various sources of
energy such as coal, natural gas and renewable energy through power
generation. Electrolysis can extract hydrogen, which can be stored and
converted into electricity again when needed.
In addition to the chemical industry, steel
industry and other traditional industrial domains, hydrogen is used in
the fields of energy, transportation and construction.
Green hydrogen is called "green" thanks to its
origin of renewable energy such as wind and photovoltaic power, making
it one of the most eco-friendly technologies. China's green hydrogen
production costs are declining as a result of increased technological
breakthroughs.
The development of China's hydrogen energy sector
is in its early stages, with the application scenario continuing to
expand.
The country recently tested
its hydrogen production technology at sea with a direct seawater
electrolysis method, which was verified by a team of experts from the
Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE).
The platform is the world's first platform
combined with renewable energy, said the Sichuan-based enterprise, one
of the world's largest manufacturers of power-generating equipment.
It is integrated into multiple systems, including
in situ hydrogen production, intelligent energy conversion management,
and safety detection and control systems.
Currently, water electrolysis technologies rely
on ultrapure freshwater. Experts said that the new method can separate
the influence of more than 90 complex elements and microorganisms in
seawater, breaking the common methods for hydrogen production.
Sinopec's green hydrogen project in Kuqa City, northwest China's
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. /CMG
Chase on clean energy
As China pursues an ambitious campaign to transition toward
renewable energy, the National Development and Reform Commission
issued the country's first long-term hydrogen plan on March 23,
mapping out the development of its green hydrogen energy through
2035.
China produced about 33 million tonnes of hydrogen in 2021, making
it the world's largest hydrogen producer.
The country aims to establish an ecosystem of diverse green
hydrogen applications including transportation and energy storage.
Green hydrogen's portion of overall energy consumption is
forecasted to expand dramatically, assisting China's clean energy
transition.
China plans to build an over-400-km hydrogen pipeline to more
effectively transfer clean fuel from the resources-rich west to
energy-consuming regions in the east.
The project is designed to channel hydrogen from Ulanqab, north
China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to Beijing, the supply
from Inner Mongolia will replace the current hydrogen production
from fossil fuels in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, play a
pioneering role in trans-regional hydrogen transmission, and help
promote the country's energy upgrades, said Ma Yongsheng, chairman
of Sinopec, China's largest oil refiner and operator of the
pipeline.
By 2025, China will have about 50,000 hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles
and its annual hydrogen production from renewable energy will
reach 100,000 to 200,000 tonnes through renewables and cut carbon
dioxide emissions by 1 million to 2 million tonnes, according to
the plan jointly released by the National Development and Reform
Commission, and the National Energy Administration.
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
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