China’s Sinopec banks on green hydrogen with Xinjiang solar-powered plant
- The country’s largest oil refiner says it has started building the world’s largest facility of its kind, with production to start in 2023
- The US$470 million project is expected to have an annual output capacity of more than 10,000 tonnes
According to the company, it will be China’s first photovoltaic-powered hydrogen plant with an annual output capacity of more than 10,000 tonnes, as well as the world’s largest.
Hydrogen, a highly reactive gas, has many industrial uses, including as a source of energy. China, which produces the world’s largest amount of it, mainly uses it as an industrial raw material – for example, to manufacture plastics or chemicals.
Most of the country’s hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels, with just 4 per cent coming from renewable sources.
Green hydrogen – produced from renewable sources such as solar and wind energy – has significantly lower carbon emissions than grey hydrogen, which is produced using fossil fuels such as natural gas.
Sinopec’s demonstration project will go through the whole process of green hydrogen production and utilisation, including photovoltaic power generation, transformation, electrolytic hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, transport and refining.
The company will build a solar power station with an installed capacity of 300 megawatts to support hydrogen production. It will also build a hydrogen production plant from water electrolysis, hydrogen storage tanks and a hydrogen pipeline.