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By Leigh Collins
Record breaker | World’s largest
green hydrogen project, with 150MW electrolyser, brought on line in
China
Image supplied
by Baofeng Energy of the 200MW solar array at the 150MW green hydrogen
project. Photo: Baofeng Energy
Baofeng Energy's record-breaking facility
achieves full commissioning as Chinese oil giant Sinopec begins
construction of 260MW plant
The world’s largest green hydrogen
project, with a 150MW alkaline electrolyser, has been fully switched
on in northwest China, powered by a 200MW solar array, Recharge
has learned.
Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group, a
coal-based chemicals manufacturer, actually completed the project in
the autonomous region of Ningxia, central China, shortly before
Christmas last year, but seems to have kept the news quiet.
Even oil giant Shell — with its network
of analysts and international reach — did not know about it, reporting
last week that its forthcoming 20MW electrolyser would only be 10MW
smaller than the world’s largest existing green hydrogen project.
According to Xiaoting Wang, hydrogen
specialist at analyst group BloombergNEF, the 150MW Baofeng project
was fully operational on 22 December last year.
Its new record will be short-lived,
however, as Chinese oil giant Sinopec has begun construction of a
260MW alkaline electrolyser facility in Xinjiang, northwest China,
which is due to be completed in mid-2023. That facility will be
powered by roughly equal amounts of solar power (from an on-site 300MW
array), and nearby wind farms, Wang writes in an analyst note.
The Baofeng project had held the world
record for largest operational electrolyser since April last year,
when it commissioned the first 30MW. The record had been previously
held by
Air Liquide’s 20MW Bécancour project in Quebec, Canada.
Despite claiming to be a solar-powered
green hydrogen project, the Baofeng facility might also be run using
grid electricity when the sun isn’t shining. The company says it “can
now produce” 27,000 tonnes of green hydrogen each year, but according
to Wang, that would not even be possible if the electrolyser was
operating at maximum capacity for every hour of every day. She
calculates that a 150MW machine running around the clock would only
produce 23,700 tonnes of hydrogen annually.
Wang also casts doubt on Baofeng’s claim
that its green H2 costs $1.2/kg, arguing that the real
figure would be more than twice as high.
“Baofeng claims its green H2
cost will be $1.2 per kilogram, which is very close to its current
cost of production for grey H2 from coal gasification
($1/kg). However, this claim is based on a unique calculation method
that is not typical in the industry.
“Baofeng applies linear depreciation to
all equipment costs over 25 years, while ignoring cost of capital and
system degradation. It also assumes continuous electricity supply
without addressing the cost of using grid power. BloombergNEF
estimates the actual H2 production cost measured in a
levelized metric following industry routine is at least twice
Baofeng's statement.”
Baofeng has also revealed plans to build
150MW of electrolysers every year until 2040.
Sinopec expects that its 260MW
electrolyser in Xinjiang will deliver an annual yield of 20,000 tonnes
of green hydrogen, achieving a utilisation rate of 48.8%, according to
BNEF. The resulting green H2 — which will only represents
0.5% of the company’s annual hydrogen yield — will be transported by
pipeline for use at a nearby Sinopec oil refinery.
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
509 995 1879 cell, Pacific.
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