With regulatory approval secured from the Internal Mongolia Power Bureau, China has formally licensed the event of its first inter-provincial inexperienced hydrogen pipeline—a 400km conduit that may ship 100,000 tonnes of inexperienced hydrogen yearly from Ulanqab in Internal Mongolia to Sinopec’s Yanshan petrochemical facility in Beijing.
This infrastructure venture types the spine of a broader technique to slash hydrogen transport prices, increase home use, and shift from demonstration-scale to business deployment of inexperienced hydrogen. By linking resource-rich Internal Mongolia with a significant industrial middle, the pipeline serves as a nationwide pilot for what Chinese language authorities name the “production-storage-transport-use” hydrogen worth chain.
The inexperienced hydrogen will likely be generated from Sinopec’s ¥20 billion ($2.8 billion) renewable hydrogen complicated in Ulanqab, which integrates 1GW of wind and solar energy capability with electrolysis. When accomplished, the ability is anticipated to develop into one of many largest of its variety globally, supplying hydrogen at industrial scale for gasoline, chemical feedstocks, and mobility functions.
From a logistics perspective, the venture represents a strategic leap. Whereas China beforehand accepted an extended 737km hydrogen pipeline inside Hebei province in December 2023, this new cross-provincial route is the primary to bodily join a renewable hydrogen manufacturing base to a significant demand middle over state-scale distances. It units a precedent for future national-scale hydrogen networks, and considerably reduces the associated fee penalty related to transporting hydrogen through vans or cryogenic containers.
The Internal Mongolia authorities has positioned itself as a frontrunner within the nationwide hydrogen race, issuing China’s first provincial hydrogen pipeline growth blueprint. The plan envisions a multi-node community of trunk strains, interprovincial loops, and export corridors to help each home and cross-border hydrogen flows. This regional method aligns carefully with China’s twin carbon objectives—peak emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060—by leveraging Internal Mongolia’s considerable wind and photo voltaic potential.
The Yanshan terminus just isn’t incidental. Sinopec’s facility there’s a sprawling petrochemical complicated that produces practically 100 completely different oil-based merchandise. The flexibility to inject inexperienced hydrogen into such a hard-to-abate industrial course of opens avenues for carbon depth discount not simply by way of gasoline switching, but in addition through inexperienced ammonia and methanol synthesis. These chemical derivatives are more and more seen as enablers of hydrogen commerce and decarbonization throughout sectors.
Technological enablers are additionally falling into place. Earlier work by PipeChina has validated the feasibility of high-pressure hydrogen transmission in long-distance pipelines, easing longstanding considerations round materials integrity and leakage dangers. These advances are essential as China begins to pivot from localized pilot initiatives to scaled regional techniques.
Keep up to date on the most recent in vitality! Observe us on LinkedIn, Fb, and X for real-time information and insights. Don’t miss out on unique interviews and webinars—subscribe to our YouTube channel at the moment! Be a part of our neighborhood and be a part of the dialog shaping the way forward for vitality.
