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Construction Begins on $1,5 Billion Green Hydrogen Project in China

China has begun constructing a $1.5 billion green hydrogen project in Xinjiang, integrating wind and solar energy to produce 40,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually and fueling 600 hydrogen-powered trucks.

China has commenced construction on a massive $1.5 billion green hydrogen project in Mulei County, Xinjiang. Led by Grove Hydrogen Energy Technology Group, the project will feature a 200MW hydrogen-fired power plant to provide grid backup, six hydrogen filling stations, and is designed to fuel 600 hydrogen-powered trucks.

Integrating Wind, Solar, and Hydrogen for Clean Energy

The project, named the Grove Mulei Hydrogen Energy Storage Peak Shaving Power Station and Integrated Wind, Solar, Hydrogen, and Vehicle Storage Project, will utilize wind and solar power to produce about 40,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually. While the specific capacity of the electrolysers has not been disclosed, it is estimated that around 400MW of electrolyser capacity will be required to achieve this production target.

Backup Power and Hydrogen Storage

One of the highlights of the project is the 200MW/1,600MWh hydrogen-fired peaker plant, designed to supply backup power to Xinjiang’s electricity grid. This facility will be capable of providing 200MW of electricity for up to eight hours, stabilizing the grid when wind and solar energy production falls short.

According to Grove chairman Hao Yiguo,

“This project is currently the largest single-planned hydrogen energy storage project both domestically and internationally.

Once completed, it will not only produce hydrogen but also generate significant economic returns while positioning Mulei as a leading hub for hydrogen energy storage.”

A New Hub for Hydrogen Energy in Xinjiang

Xinjiang, with its vast renewable energy resources, has experienced high curtailment rates in recent years — sometimes reaching as high as 29% — due to excess energy production. This new project is expected to utilize existing renewable energy sources to produce green hydrogen, making effective use of Xinjiang’s abundant wind and solar resources.

The hydrogen filling stations will have a daily capacity of five tonnes and will support Grove’s fleet of 600 hydrogen-powered trucks. The company also produces hydrogen-powered trucks under its Zhongji brand, boasting a 49-tonne model with a 500km range, along with an H2-powered sports car that has a range of 1,200km.

Source: Hydrofencentral

The European Commission has given the green light to a €1 billion state aid scheme from Portugal aimed at bolstering the production of strategic equipment essential for the transition towards a net-zero economy. This initiative aligns with the objectives of the Green Deal Industrial Plan and is designed to support investments in critical sectors such as renewable energy, electrification, and sustainable industrial processes.

Key Details of the Scheme

Scope and Support: The approved scheme will provide direct grants to companies engaged in the production of equipment necessary for the green transition. This includes batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, electrolysers, and technologies for carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS).

Funding Conditions: This measure falls under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF), which was initially adopted on March 9, 2023, and subsequently amended. The scheme allows for aid to be granted until December 31, 2025.

EU Compliance: The Commission has verified that the Portuguese initiative complies with EU state aid rules, particularly Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The aid is deemed necessary, appropriate, and proportionate to foster the green transition and to facilitate the development of economic activities crucial for the Green Deal Industrial Plan.

Implications and Strategic Importance

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, highlighted the scheme's strategic importance, stating, "This €1 billion Portuguese measure supports investments in strategic equipment to accelerate the transition to a net-zero economy. This includes batteries, solar panels, heat-pumps, wind turbines, electrolysers, and carbon-capture usage and storage. This is in line with the objectives of the Green Deal Industrial Plan and the EU’s climate neutrality target, whilst ensuring that competition distortions remain limited."

The scheme is also expected to help reduce dependency on imported fossil fuels by facilitating investments in the decarbonization of industrial processes and promoting the use of renewable and electricity-based hydrogen.

Broader Impact

The TCTF under which this scheme is approved provides a framework for Member States to support measures accelerating the rollout of renewable energy, facilitating the decarbonization of industrial processes, and boosting investments in key sectors for the transition to a net-zero economy. This includes expanded possibilities to support industries transitioning to hydrogen-derived fuels and the manufacturing of strategic equipment necessary for the green transition.

The decision demonstrates the EU's commitment to supporting Member States in achieving climate neutrality goals while maintaining a balanced competitive environment. The non-confidential version of the decision will be available under the case number SA.113456 on the Commission's competition website after resolving any confidentiality issues.

Source:FCW

Origin Energy — one of Australia’s “big three” utilities — has today announced that it “intends to cease work on all hydrogen development opportunities”, including the high-profile government-backed 1GW Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub in New South Wales, which it had been co-developing with explosives company Orica.

In a market statement, the Sydney-based company said its decision to exit the green H2 project on Kooragang Island — which has been awarded A$70m ($47.9m) from the government’s A$526m Regional Hydrogen Hubs programme and been shortlisted for the A$2bn Hydrogen Headstart programme — “reflects uncertainty around the pace and timing of development of the hydrogen market, and the risks associated with developing capital-intensive projects of this nature”.

CEO Frank Calabria explained: “We have worked hard to evaluate the investment case for hydrogen and are grateful for the strong government support.

“However, it has become clear that the hydrogen market is developing more slowly than anticipated, and there remain risks and both input cost and technology advancements to overcome.

“The combination of these factors mean we are unable to see a current pathway to take a final investment decision on the project.”

Calabria added that Origin believes that “investments focussed on renewables and [energy] storage can best support the decarbonisation of energy supply and underpin energy security over the near-term”. “Origin has been closely following the global development of hydrogen technology and markets over the past four years and we have evaluated a range of options across several jurisdictions,” he said.

“We acknowledge there will be some disappointment at this decision and are grateful for the opportunity to evaluate the feasibility of this project in conjunction with Orica [which was due to be the offtaker], and with the support of both federal and state governments, local representatives and the community.”

The company says that it “remains open to exploring commercial options” for the Hunter Valley project, which received planning permission for its first 55MW phase in June and had been expected to be the first hydrogen hub in the country – one of eight to be allocated funding from the Regional Hydrogen Hubs programme.

But a front-end engineering and design study conducted by Origin and Orica seems to have concluded that the project is not currently commercially viable, raising questions as to whether Orica will continue to develop the project, perhaps with a new partner. The explosives company said it was “disappointed” by Origin’s decision and that it “remained committed to exploring new opportunities in this promising sector”.

“The support of both the Federal and the NSW governments for the Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub project should also be acknowledged and Orica looks forward to continuing the collaboration with ministers and responsible agencies on the transition of Orica’s Kooragang Island manufacturing facility and the Hunter Valley region.

“We remain open to discussions with interested parties who share our vision for a sustainable energy future and Australia’s hydrogen economy”.
The announcement is another blow to the Australian green hydrogen industry’s, coming months after the sector’s biggest cheerleader, Andrew Forrest, postponed plans to produce 15 million tonnes of renewable H2 annually by 2030, declaring that high energy prices were making it hard to produce affordable green hydrogen.

Only a few weeks ago, the Australian government announced a target to produce 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen across the country by 2030, as well as a deal for Germany to buy $444m of renewable H2 from Australia through the H2Global scheme.

Source: Hydrogeninsight 

For the first time, integration of offshore wind, gas and green hydrogen is taking place on an operational gas platform in the North Sea. The Q13a-A platform of Neptune Energy (Eni) will, after successful onshore tests in Alkmaar, be equipped with an electrolyzer to produce green hydrogen on an existing platform, thanks to the PosHYdon consortium.

First production offshore is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024. Never before has an operational oil or gas platform been used for the integration and production of green hydrogen. The green hydrogen molecules produced will be transported to land along with natural gas via existing pipelines.

This week the kick-off, after years of studies and development, of PosHYdon's onshore tests took place at the site of InVesta in Alkmaar, one of the affiliated partners within PosHYdon. An important milestone; the electrolyzer will then be transported to the platform, tested and installed. This will enable us to land green hydrogen molecules with gray gas molecules through existing infrastructure. A unique achievement!

René Peters, Business Director Gas Technologies TNO and initiator of the North Sea Energy Program said: “PosHYdon is a perfect example of system integration in the North Sea. In many studies, hydrogen is considered the missing link in the energy transition, with many talking about all the opportunities. But here, right off the coast of Scheveningen, it will actually take place later this year. PosHYdon is teaching us a lot about the next steps that need to be taken towards safe, large-scale green hydrogen production from wind at sea. Offshore green hydrogen production will enable large-scale wind farms to be developed far out at sea. Wind energy is directly converted to green hydrogen from demineralized seawater and can be transported through the existing or new gas infrastructure.

As a result, offshore wind projects can be realized faster at significantly lower costs for society. I am therefore very happy that we can now test the complete installation onshore, in preparation for transferring it offshore for the final test: offshore green hydrogen production.”

About PosHYdon

In the PosHYdon project, a significant number of lessons are being learned about the offshore production of green hydrogen. This makes the project essential for a smooth roll-out towards large-scale production, as envisaged with the Esbjerg ambitions for 2050.

PosHYdon seeks to validate the integration of three energy systems in the Dutch North Sea: offshore wind, offshore gas and offshore hydrogen and will involve the installation of hydrogen-producing plant on the Neptune Energy (Eni)-operated Q13a-A platform. This platform was the first fully green electrified platform in the Dutch North Sea.

The green hydrogen will be blended with the gas and transported to the coast via the existing gas pipeline. To this end, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has increased the blending specifications from 0.02% to 0.5% hydrogen. The 1 MW electrolyser will follow the wind profile of  the Luchterduinen wind farm.

Source: FCW

The Slovenian start-up ReCatalyst and the German spin-off company ionysis GmbH are collaborating on the development of next-generation fuel cells as part of the ENABLER project, funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC). The companies have now made significant progress in their technical development.

On the one hand, ReCatalyst has developed a new generation of fuel cell catalyst materials based on mesoporous carbons, for which a production patent has also been filed. Using these novel materials, the ionysis team has successfully developed full-format fuel cells (a commercial cell platform with approximately 200 cm² active area), which, for the first time, have achieved the project performance target of >2 A/cm² at 0.65 V. This is a significant milestone in demonstrating the technological maturity of both ReCatalyst’s platinum alloy catalysts and ionysis’s hydrocarbon-based CCM technology.

“The collaboration with ionysis is exactly what makes the EIC Transition project very special – it enabled both start-ups to rapidly improve their technologies without compromising commercial goals,” said Dr. Matija Gatalo, CTO ReCatalyst.  “We have been able to reach this significant performance target exactly because of our synergies, since a great catalyst can only show its potential in a highly optimized CCM.”

Dr. Matthias Breitwieser, CTO of ionysis, commented: “The timing was perfect: ReCatalyst has made huge progress in catalyst development, while at the same time we have significantly optimized the ink formulation and our direct CCM coating process. This enabled us to integrate both developments into our next generation of hydrocarbon-based CCMs.”  

The next step for both companies is scaling. ReCatalyst is scaling up the synthesis of its new catalysts, while ionysis is currently installing the pilot plant for CCM production.

“The synergies between us, such as the maturity stage as well as technological complementarity, enable us to thrive,” said Tomaž Bizjak, CEO of ReCatalyst. “We understand each other’s needs and dynamics well and we know that only through such potent innovation we can tackle the challenge of exploiting our commercial potentials in the fast-developing global market with many established players.” 

Lisa Langer, CFO of ionysis, added: “EIC Transition offers a unique project setup where the commercialization of technological innovation is prepared from the very beginning. It is a huge benefit for ionysis to have a sparring partner in ReCatalyst and push forward the complementary innovations to move ahead faster in the quest of bringing the next generation of fuel cells to market.”

Source: Hydrogentechworld