China’s green energy solutions provider China Energy Engineering (CEEC) has started building one of the country’s largest green hydrogen production zones, in Lanzhou in Gansu province.
The three-phase project will have a total investment of 15 billion yuan ($2.23 billion) and will involve engineering, procurement and construction of facilities across the whole hydrogen industry chain, including production, storage, transportation and refilling, and hydrogen cells and hydrogen-driven vehicles.
CEEC, in partnership with fuel cell specialist Wuhan Troowin Power System Technology, will initially invest 3 billion yuan in building facilities on the 2.83 kilometre site to produce 20,000 tonnes per annum of green hydrogen and storage for 100,000 cubic metres of hydrogen.
Other facilities in the first phase include a centre for green hydrogen for transport and a hydrogen equipment fabrication centre.
Green hydrogen will be produced using renewable energy, such as wind or solar power, which creates no greenhouse gas emissions.
The Chinese government has set a target to produce between 100,000 and 200,000 tpa of green hydrogen with 50,000 fuel cell vehicles on the road by 2025.
About 90% of China’s 33 million tonnes of hydrogen produced last year was grey hydrogen, manufactured from coal or natural gas.
Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas feedstocks with the carbon dioxide by-product from hydrogen production captured and stored. However, this process is not emissions free.
UPDATED 31 August 2022 15:38 GMT
By Xu Yihe in Singapore