China Petrochemical to build nation’s first long-distance hydrogen pipeline

The largest fuel provider and oil refiner in the country, China Petrochemical Corp., has presented a plan to construct the first long-distance hydrogen pipeline in the nation.

The “west-to-east” demonstration pipeline, which is a component of the national fuel transmission network expansion blueprint, would support the nation’s efforts to shift to a cleaner energy source, according to Sinopec’s parent company in Beijing.

When finished, it will take the place of the region’s fossil fuel-based hydrogen production and aid in meeting the need for hydrogen in the transportation sector, according to China Petrochemical.

The new conduit will be the country’s first cross-regional, large-scale transmission pipeline for pure hydrogen, spanning more than 400km from Ulanqab in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to Sinopec’s Yanshan petrochemical processing plant in Beijing.

The pipeline’s transmission capacity can be increased from its initial 100,000 tonnes under the current proposal to 500,000 tonnes over time. Several points of connection have been created for the system to receive hydrogen from potential sources.

The 110 million-person region it will supply, with an annual economic output of 10 trillion yuan (US$1.45 trillion) and high levels of urbanisation, will play a significant role in the decarbonization endeavour.

The feasibility study report has “essentially been completed,” according to China Petrochemical, and work on the new pipeline’s routing, technical analysis, and construction design has been going smoothly. On the building time period, investment, and returns, no figures were given.

At Ulanqab, China Petrochemical announced plans for a sizable green hydrogen project that will be powered by wind and solar farms. By 2025, the firm had stated that it hoped to be able to refuel with hydrogen at a rate of 120,000 tonnes year and produce over 1 million tonnes of hydrogen annually.

According to China’s first hydrogen plan, which was published a year ago, the country would create 100,000 to 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2025 and have at least 50,000 hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles on the road.