Chinese state-controlled oil and petrochemicals group Sinopec has started up a 260MW solar-powered green hydrogen pilot plant in the country’s far western region of Xinjiang, in what it claims to be the world’s largest project of its type.

The RMB3bn ($415mn) plant, which uses 260MW of alkaline electrolyser technology, has a production capacity of 20,000t/yr—equal to 10–20pc of the 100,000–200,000t/yr China wants to produce by 2025 under its first national hydrogen strategy.

“The official operation of the plant, which harnesses solar energy to generate green hydrogen, marks a major stride forward in Sinopec's technological exploration to produce clean hydrogen as it empowers the country to transition to a greener and more sustainable energy system,” the company says.

“The official operation of the plant marks a major stride forward in Sinopec’s technological exploration to produce clean hydrogen” Sinopec

The hydrogen will be used at Sinopec's Tahe refining and chemical complex in the Dongcheng district of Kuche county in Xinjiang, where it will reduce annual CO₂ emissions by 485,000t.     

The project is the first of its kind in China to be equipped with a photovoltaic power generation complex, power transmission and transformation lines, electrolytic hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and transportation, and supporting auxiliary production, Sinopec says.

In February, Sinopec launched the development of a 30,000t/yr green hydrogen project in the Ordos region of Inner Mongolia. The company plans to invest RMB5.7bn in the plant, which will also produce 240,000t/yr of oxygen for industrial use.

Sinopec will install 450MW of solar and 270MW of wind capacity to power the Ordos project, as well as 288,000m³ of hydrogen storage capacity. The plant will feed into carbon reduction initiatives at an adjacent coal processing pilot project and is expected to reduce CO₂ emissions by 1.43mn t/yr.

Sinopec recently started producing proton-exchange-membrane electrolysers at a facility in Foshan in southern Guangdong province, which has been developed under a 50/50 joint venture with US technology firm Cummins. The facility has an initial production capacity of 500MW/yr, with potential to rise to 1GW/yr over the next five years.

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Author: Stuart Penson