BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 26. China has emerged as the world's leading hydrogen producer, generating approximately 33 million metric tons in 2020, Trend reports.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), initially, this production primarily relied on coal and natural gas, but there has been substantial recent growth in hydrogen production through water electrolysis.
By 2022, China accounted for 30 percent of the world's electrolyzer capacity. As of the beginning of 2023, China has made remarkable strides in water electrolysis-based hydrogen production, and it is anticipated that by the end of the year, the installed electrolyzer capacity will reach 1.1 GW, representing half of the global capacity share. As of September 2023, half of this projected capacity is already operational, with the remainder under construction.
As the IEA pointed out, in addition to the substantial increase in total installed electrolyzer capacity, China is on track to commission one of the world's largest electrolyzer plants by the end of 2023 - the Chifeng Ammonia Demonstration Project, boasting an annual hydrogen production capacity of 24,200 tons (equivalent to approximately 140 MW of electrolyzer capacity).
Furthermore, as the agency forecasts, in 2024, eight electrolytic hydrogen projects currently under construction, each with an electrolyser capacity exceeding 125 MW, are slated to commence operations in China. Among these projects is the electrolytic hydrogen venture by Sinopec at its chemical facility in Ordos, potentially ranking as one of the world's largest with an annual hydrogen production of 30,000 tons (equivalent to about 350 megawatts of electrolysis capacity, assuming a 50 percent capacity factor).
These project announcements signify remarkable growth in China's electrolyser developments in the coming years, aligning with broader global trends, the IEA noted. In comparison to 2023, China's anticipated installed electrolyzer capacity is set to triple to 3.3 GW by 2024 and is projected to reach nearly 5.4 GW by 2025.
