(Yicai) Aug. 31 -- China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, also known as Sinopec, said it has finished building China's largest facility for hydrogen production from photovoltaic power generation.

Located in Kuqa, a county-level city in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the plant has an annual output of 20,000 tons of hydrogen, the Beijing-based firm said yesterday. It has a hydrogen storage capacity of 210,000 standard cubic meters and can transport 28,000 scm of the fuel per hour, it added.

The green hydrogen produced at the facility will be supplied to Sinopec's local unit Tahe Refining and Chemical, replacing hydrogen made from natural gas, which is applied in the oil-refining process, the company noted. This will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 485,000 tons a year, it pointed out.

According to brokerage BOC International China, the project's smooth completion and the start of operation will accelerate the development of the country's domestic industry of hydrogen energy equipment.

The PV modules, electrolyzers, hydrogen-storage tanks, transmission pipelines, and many other important equipment and core materials used in the facility are all home-grown, Sinopec noted.

The green hydrogen is made directly through the power generation of renewable energies, including solar and wind, Sinopec said. Related production processes will not generate greenhouse gases, it added, noting that refining with green hydrogen is also an important roadmap for the chemical industry to realize green transformation.

Since 2019, Sinopec has invested in and introduced key technologies, equipment, and materials in hydrogen production, storage, refueling, and utilization. The Chinese oil and gas giant built the country's first hydrogen transmission pipeline and has developed over 100 hydrogen refueling stations.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Martin Kadiev