China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) annouced the construction of a 400km pipeline connecting Ulanqab in Inner Mongolia with the capital Beijing. In its first phase it will handle about 100,000 tons of hydrogen each year, with the potential to increase to 500,000 tons in the long run. Ports will be built along the pipeline to allow access to new potential hydrogen sources. This pipeline was included by China's National Energy Administration last March in its 2023-2025 Plan to accelerate the integration of oil and natural gas development with renewable energy.
As you may recall, Sinopec is also active in Carbon Capture & Storage. “Turning CO2 into treasure: Sinopec China's first capture and storage operation".
Back to hydrogen, earlier this year, Sinopec annouced the Inner Mongolia Erdos Wind-Solar Green Hydrogen Project. With the rich solar and wind energy resources in the region it projects to reach an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons of green hydrogen and 240,000 tons of green oxygen, which will be used for the carbon reduction initiatives of the adjacent ZTHC Energy intensive coal processing pilot project.
Sinopec is also working on integrating refueling service stations. Last February, it officially launched China's first methanol to hydrogen and hydrogen refueling service station in Dalian. According to the press release an upgrade from the previous fueling station offering oil, gas, hydrogen, electric charging services, the integrated complex can produce 1,000 kilograms of hydrogen a day, with a purity of 99.999 percent.
Today, China has only 100 km of hydrogen pipelines in operation, according to the International Energy Agency, while the United States has 2,600 km and Europe 2,000 km.
Europe is pushing fast. Recall the project BAR-MAR "H2MED Project: Hydrogen pipeline between Spain and France to be complete by 2030", that intends to better connect Barcelona with Marseille, and from there distribute green hydrogen to be procuded from renewable sources in the Iberic Penisula and in Northern Africa, with all its potential ("Africa’s extraordinary green hydrogen potential")
Click at the image below (sources Baker Institute and China Hydrogen Bulletin) for the article (in English) from Xinhua.
