China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has held ceremonies to mark the launch of the Inner Mongolia Erdos Wind-Solar Green Hydrogen Project.

The project will use abundant solar and wind energy resources in the Erdos region to produce green hydrogen directly, projecting to reach an annual production capacity of 30,000 tonnes of green hydrogen and 240,000 tonnes of green oxygen, which will be used for the carbon reduction initiatives of the adjacent ZTHC Energy intensive coal processing pilot project in Erdos.

Hailed as a ‘milestone’ in Sinopec’s hydrogen development roadmap following its green hydrogen pilot project in Kuqa Xinjiang in 2021, the project, believed to be the world’s largest in the green hydrogen coal-chemical field, will further expand China’s and global green hydrogen production capacity, promote the development of the green hydrogen industry chain and advance China’s green energy goals.

Its scope covers wind and photovoltaic power generation, power transmission and transformation, hydrogen production by water electrolysis, hydrogen storage and transport. The installed power-generating capacity of wind and PV power will reach 450MW and 270MW respectively; and the hydrogen storage capacity will reach 288,000cbm.

Backed by a ¥5.7bn ($828.04m) investment, the project is estimated to reduce carbon emission by 1.43m tonnes annually, contributing ¥600m ($87.17m) in GDP and ¥30m ($4.36m) of tax.