US technology firm Cummins and Chinese oil and gas company Sinopec have formed a 50/50 joint venture to pursue green hydrogen projects in China.

The joint venture—called Cummins Enze—will aim to accelerate the affordability and availability of green hydrogen through R&D spending and increasing manufacturing capacity. 

The firm will initially invest $47mn in a plant to produce proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) electrolysers. The facility will have the capacity to produce 500MW/yr from 2023, rising to 1GW /yr over the following five years. 

The electrolysers will vary in size from small-scale models for on-site hydrogen generation to 100MW and larger versions for pilot projects.

“Cummins and Sinopec joining together to realise the potential of green hydrogen is a huge leap forward for scaling our innovative PEM electrolyser systems,” says Amy Davis, president of new power at Cummins.

Grey to green

Sinopec is one of China’s largest producers of grey hydrogen, with output at 3.5mn t/yr in 2021. The firm is looking to transition from grey hydrogen to green hydrogen production while retaining its existing customer base.

“Green hydrogen is the ultimate technology of the hydrogen energy industry in the future,” says Zhou Yuxuan, chairman of the joint venture. “Both grey and blue hydrogen technologies are just a transition. We will use Sinopec’s current industry resources and lay out the green hydrogen industry chain to achieve greater progress.”

“Both grey and blue hydrogen technologies are just a transition” Zhou, Cummins Enze

Cummins Enze will leverage Sinopec’s resources in supply chain optimisation, sales and marketing to accelerate the growth of its business.

Sinopec has a number of energy transition-related initiatives, including a target to build 1,000 hydrogen refuelling stations by 2025. It will initially supply the refuelling stations with largely grey hydrogen before ramping up the supply of blue and green versions of the fuel.

The firm has launched a new PEM hydrogen production demonstration station at its Yanshan petrochemical complex in Beijing and is investing $4.6bn in a variety of other green hydrogen projects around China.

The firm believes green hydrogen will reach parity with diesel in transport by as early as 2025.

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Author: Tom Young