Climate Change: China’s Sinopec builds world’s biggest solar hydrogen plants in bid to achieve carbon neutrality a decade before national target

Name: Inside the Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone
Uploaded: 2021-08-23T09:31:38.000Z
Duration: 1 min 24 s
Description: Inside the Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone

The plants in Ordos, in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and in Tahe, in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, will be powered by solar energy

Sinopec Engineering, unit in charge of developing the projects, reports increase in revenue and profit

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A Sinopec facility on the outskirts of Beijing. Sinopec, China’s largest oil refiner and petrochemical producer, aims to also become the country’s No. 1 hydrogen company by 2025. Photo: Simon Song

Eric Ng

Published: 5:31pm, 23 Aug 2021Updated: 11:08pm, 23 Aug 2021

China Petrochemical Corporation, or Sinopec Group, which is vying to lead the development of China’s nascent hydrogen industry, is building what it believes to be two of the world’s largest green hydrogen projects in the country’s north.

Sinopec has invested in the plants in Ordos, in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and in Tahe, in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, while its Hong Kong-listed unit, Sinopec Engineering, is in charge of design and construction. Both facilities will be powered by solar energy.

The company is banking on Beijing’s decarbonisation policies to boost the economic viability of and demand for the zero-carbon fuel and the equipment and facilities needed to produce it, according to the chairwoman of its engineering and technology unit, Sinopec Engineering (Group).

“It is normal for any new technology to require big cost reductions to achieve mass adoption,” Sun Lili told analysts and reporters on Monday. “We will do much more research and development, and welcome cooperation with partners to achieve these objectives.”

Sinopec, China’s largest oil refiner and petrochemical producer, aims to also become the country’s No. 1 hydrogen company by 2025 and achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, a decade ahead of the national target. Net zero, or carbon neutrality, is achieved when emissions are offset by deploying facilities to capture and store the same amount from the atmosphere. Sinopec Engineering is developing carbon capture technology to meet the group’s goal to have a demonstration plant operating by 2025.

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Inside the Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone

The plant in Ordos is expected to be completed by next year, Sinopec said in May. It will supply hydrogen to a coal-to-chemicals plant there run by Zhongtian Hechuang Energy, Sinopec’s joint venture with power generator Shenergy and miners China Coal Energy and Nei Mongol Man Shi Coal Group.

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