Sinopec Announces: The Hydrogen Energy Era Is Coming!

In recent years, one major policy after another has been introduced regarding hydrogen energy. In April 2020, the National Energy Administration officially included hydrogen energy in the scope of energy in the "Draft Law of the People's Republic of China on Energy (for Public Comments)." Several provinces and cities have incorporated content related to hydrogen energy development into their plans for the 14th Five-Year Period, thereby laying the initial foundation for a comprehensive policy and industrial framework for hydrogen energy development.

In March 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly released the “Mid- to Long-Term Plan for the Development of the Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021-2035),” further clarifying hydrogen energy’s role in China’s energy system and its critical importance in the green and low-carbon transition, thereby providing an action guide for the high-quality development of hydrogen energy.

Just as many people are turning pale at the mere mention of hydrogen, relying on knowledge they learned from middle-school physics textbooks and a few buzzwords they’ve picked up online—such as “hydrogen embrittlement” and “high explosion limits”—China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), the largest supplier of refined oil and petrochemical products and the second-largest oil and gas producer, has already been proactively preparing for the future by making strategic moves in the hydrogen energy sector. Sinopec publicly stated: “China Petrochemical is committed to becoming China’s leading hydrogen energy company and the world’s largest enterprise in terms of the number of hydrogen refueling stations built and operated.”

Sinopec has put into operation a major project in Xinjiang—the construction site of the Kuche Photovoltaic Green Hydrogen Production Project in Xinjiang. The entire photovoltaic project covers an area of over 9,500 mu, equivalent to the size of more than 900 football fields. The project is expected to produce 20,000 tons of green hydrogen annually. Cao Jie, Deputy General Manager of Sinopec Tahe Refining & Chemical Company, revealed that the cost of producing hydrogen via photovoltaic electrolysis is approximately 18 yuan per kilogram.

Meanwhile, 1 kilogram of hydrogen gas at standard conditions (0°C, 1 atmosphere) occupies a volume of approximately 11.2 cubic meters. Converted, the cost of hydrogen production comes to roughly 1.6 yuan per standard cubic meter. Taking Toyota’s MIRAI as an example, it consumes 0.55 kilograms of hydrogen per 100 kilometers. Translated into costs, the hydrogen cost per kilometer is just 10 cents. Of course, this calculation only includes the cost of hydrogen production itself and does not account for transportation or operational expenses. However, as the cost of hydrogen production continues to decline, it’s entirely possible that in the future, the operating costs of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles could drop to levels comparable to those of electric vehicles. Moreover, with a refueling time of just three minutes—enabling a full “recharge” in no time—hydrogen fuel cell vehicles clearly have significant advantages over electric vehicles.

Many people can't quite grasp one point: Why use solar power to generate electricity and then use that electricity to electrolyze water and produce hydrogen? The reason is that the electricity generated by solar energy has issues such as randomness, volatility, and intermittency. Directly feeding this electricity into the grid would increase the burden on grid regulation and, in severe cases, could even destabilize the power grid. Moreover, electrical energy is difficult to store, requiring a massive number of batteries to build charging stations. By converting electricity into hydrogen, however, we can store it much more conveniently. Therefore, in the Kuche project, 20% of the generated electricity is fed into the grid, while 80% is used for electrolyzing water to produce hydrogen.

In addition to its efforts in hydrogen production, Sinopec has already built 83 hydrogen refueling stations, making it the world’s largest company in terms of both the number of hydrogen stations constructed and operated. Meanwhile, the total number of hydrogen refueling stations across China stands at only 270. In other words, Sinopec has built 30% of the world’s hydrogen refueling stations. By 2025, Sinopec plans to have built 1,000 hydrogen refueling stations or integrated oil-hydrogen stations. Thus, over the next three years, Sinopec will be planning and constructing more than 900 hydrogen refueling stations and integrated oil-hydrogen stations.