(Yicai Global) May 8 -- US engine maker Cummins and Chinese petrochemical giant China Petrochemical, also known as Sinopec, have put their jointly owned hydrogen generation equipment factory in Foshan, southern Guangdong province, into production, filling a gap in the country’s hydrogen energy industrial chain and paving the way for China to achieve its carbon peaking and neutrality goals on time.

Cummins Enze Guangdong Hydrogen Technology, which is an equally owned joint venture between Indiana-based Cummins and Sinopec’s Enze Fund, is China’s largest base for proton exchange membrane electrolyzers. Covering an area of 70,000 square meters, it is expected to have an annual capacity of 500 megawatts once the first phase is completed and this will double to one gigawatt when the second phase is finished.

The first batch of Cummins Enze’s HyLYZER products will be delivered this year, said Zhao Liujun, general manager of the JV. As the production process is finetuned, the delivery period will be reduced to six months and all equipment parts will be sourced locally, he added.

The JV is accelerating the application of advanced and mature PEM electrolyzed water hydrogen production technology in China, the deputy secretary of Communist Party at Sinopec Capital Deng Qunwei said at the commissioning ceremony. It will contribute to the realization of China’s goals to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

The JV was set up in 2021 to promote green hydrogen solutions in China, which refers to the generation of hydrogen from renewable energy, resulting in zero carbon emissions during the production process.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor