Sinopec Builds World's Largest Solar-To-Green Hydrogen Plant With Pipelines And Storage
Chinese biggest hydrogen producer, Sinopec, started building one of the world's largest solar-to-hydrogen projects on Dec. 1, 2021. The 'world's largest' renewable solar-to-hydrogen plan, estimated to cost a whopping $470 million, will link 300 MW of PV to 20000-tonne capacity electrolysers in Xinjian by 2023.
The massive electrolyser facility to produce an expected 20,000 tonnes of clean hydrogen in Xinjian, northwest china, will be complete with pipelines and storage to sufficiently serve Sinopec's local hydrogen needs for petrochemical operations substituting the role of fossil fuel-based hydrogen currently in use.
Although the group does not specify their electrolysers facility size, the new project would dwarf earlier plans like the 20MW PV array designed with 10MW electrolyser Fukushima, Japan, which fully operational in 2020.
Sinopec's giant facility would be one of the largest global projects until a wave of the anticipated gigawatt-scale clean Hydrogen plants begins to enter operations towards the decade ending in Australia, the Middle East, and anywhere else within China.
Earlier this year, Sinopec unveiled its plans of reaching a production capacity of 500,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2025, compared to the present 3.9 million tonnes of the grey variety derived from unabated fossil fuel.
According to Sinopec president Ma Yongsheng, Hydrogen is one of the popular sources of green energy that "has the most potential" for development to boost production capacity and supply for the growing demand for hydrogen fuel.
"This pilot project gives full play to Xinjiang's advantage in its wealth of resources and is a key project for Sinopec to build a number-one hydrogen energy company," he added.
Sinopec's Xinjan venture will be carried out using all made-in-China products with locally manufactured components, including the facility's pipelines with a transmission capacity of 28 000 Scm per hour and the 210,000 cubic meter storage tank.