Page 8 - AsiaElec Week 14 2022
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AsiaElec HYDROGEN AsiaElec
China forges
new hydrogen
development plan
CHINA CHINA’S new national hydrogen development The plan only includes two quantitative tar-
plan aims to produce the fuel from low-carbon gets: 50,000 fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs)
sources, improve storage and transport, and and 100,000-200,000 tpy of green hydrogen
diversify end uses, and has set a short-term green production by 2025.
hydrogen production target of 200,000 tonnes The two targets reflect not only the existing
per year (tpy) by 2025. progress but also the high expectation for these
The plan, released at the end of March, sectors, with financial assistance a key enabler
demonstrates the importance that the govern- going forward.
ment now places on hydrogen as a tool to meet China’s FCEV fleet will need to increase by
the country’s emissions reduction ambitions. around fivefold to reach the targeted level by
China aims to become net zero by 2060, 10 2025, and annual growth will need to more
years later than the 2050 target adopted by much than double from the average rate seen during
of Europe and the US. It also wants CO2 emis- 2020-21.
sions to peak by 2030 at the latest. There are enough proposed green hydrogen
The hydrogen plan lays out several principles projects to support the production target, but
to guide the industry’s development in the near uncertainty over downstream demand may
and long term across the value chain, focusing on cause headwinds for some projects.
producing hydrogen from low-carbon sources, For example, in February Ningxia Baofeng
improving storage and transport, and diversify- Energy Group switched on the world’s largest
ing end uses, IHS Markit said in a research note. green hydrogen project, a 150-MW alkaline
On the production side, the plan emphasises electrolyser that is powered by a 100-MW solar
low-carbon options and “strict control” over fos- farm in Ningxia in central China.
sil-fuel based hydrogen production. The developments come as the China’s hydro-
Hydrogen by-products – from existing facil- gen industry has urged the government to set a
ities like chemical plants and coke ovens – and target of 100 GW of green hydrogen electrolyser
green hydrogen produced from renewable capacity by 2030.
power will be prioritised until green hydrogen’s Looking beyond to 2030 and 2035, the plan
production scale improves to become the main lays out key market expectations but shies away
source of supply. from setting concrete targets.
In the midstream segment, the plan high- By 2030, the plan aims for a relatively com-
lights the need for technologies to increase effi- plete hydrogen industry with “orderly” and
ciency and reduce costs for hydrogen storage and “reasonable” hydrogen consumption and green
transport to address the locational mismatch hydrogen playing a role in helping China to
between green hydrogen supply and demand. achieve its peak carbon emissions goal.
On the demand side, the plan calls for diver- In 2035, a comprehensive hydrogen industry
sifying hydrogen use beyond the transport sec- will have been established with diversified uses
tor to include seasonal energy storage, heat and of hydrogen across the transport, energy storage,
power for distributed energy projects, and feed- and industry sectors.
stock substitution or heat for industry uses.
P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 14 06•April•2022
