China: Giant Solar Farm Supplies Chemical Plant with 20,000 Tons of Green Hydrogen

Pilot project: a Chinese solar farm supplies a chemical plant with 20,000 tonnes of green hydrogen

China has once again set itself apart by launching a major pilot project with the potential to become a global model for the energy transition. It involves a gigantic plant producing green hydrogen powered by solar energy.

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The rise of the clean energy sun

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The chemical group China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) recently inaugurated its Green Hydrogen Pilot Project. This complete green hydrogen production facility is intended exclusively as a raw material and energy source for the chemical industry.

The basic energy infrastructure is based on a huge solar park in the Xinjiang region of north-west China. The electricity generated by this solar park is sent directly to a hydrogen electrolysis plant, where it is used. Thanks to the abundant sunshine forecast and the power of the electrolyser, the plant is expected to produce around 20,000 tonnes of hydrogen a year. By comparison, the largest facilities in Germany currently produce only a few thousand tonnes a year.

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The hydrogen produced is then sent to the Sinopec Tahe Petrochemical plant to replace the hydrogen previously produced from natural gas. This transition marks the first step towards the gradual abandonment of fossil raw materials in the manufacture of various chemical products, with an expected annual reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of around 485,000 tonnes.

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A key role beyond combustion

The award of pilot project status underlines China's commitment to building more facilities of this type in the future to meet the growing demand for green hydrogen. Green hydrogen is not just a major source of energy in the era of energy transition.

Hydrogen also plays an essential role as a raw material in many industrial processes, particularly in the chemical reactions of organic chemistry. In addition, it is an indispensable component in the iron refining process to produce steel, replacing the coal used until now as an additive.

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