Chifeng, Inner Mongolia – China has inaugurated what is being hailed as the world’s largest 100% hydrogen closed-loop plant in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, a significant stride in the global clean energy transition. Developed by Envision Energy, this groundbreaking facility integrates wind, solar, and battery storage with advanced AI to create a self-sufficient, zero-emissions system for green hydrogen and ammonia production. The plant, located within the Net-Zero Industrial Park, began operations in July, setting a new benchmark for industrial decarbonization.
A New Era of Green Manufacturing
The Envision Energy plant in Chifeng represents a pivotal advancement in green manufacturing. Operating entirely off-grid, it uniquely utilizes only renewable sources for electrolysis and ammonia synthesis, eliminating carbon emissions from energy input. This pioneering project aims to cut millions of tons of emissions annually and support low-carbon supply chains across vital industries such as steel, cement, and chemicals.
Initially, the facility boasts a capacity to produce 320,000 tonnes of green ammonia per year, with ambitious plans to expand this capacity to 1.5 million tonnes annually by 2028. Green ammonia is a crucial hydrogen carrier, facilitating easier storage and transport of green hydrogen, making it particularly attractive for sectors requiring scalable clean fuels, including global shipping and heavy manufacturing.
Off-Grid Autonomy and AI Integration
A distinguishing feature of Envision’s Chifeng plant is its complete independence from the fossil fuel-powered grid. The facility leverages an integrated system of wind and solar energy, complemented by battery storage, to power its operations. Artificial intelligence plays a critical role in managing these complex operations, ensuring real-time balance between energy supply and demand. This AI-driven optimization helps to address the inherent unpredictability of renewable energy sources, a major challenge in large-scale green hydrogen production.
Innovative Closed-Loop System
The “closed-loop” nature of this plant signifies its holistic and circular approach to energy and resource management. A key innovation involves the use of surplus renewable energy to produce and store liquid nitrogen. This stored liquid nitrogen then helps to stabilize the system when wind or solar energy generation is low, ensuring a consistent and reliable energy supply for continuous hydrogen and ammonia production. This dynamic optimization ensures maximum utilization of every kilowatt-hour of green electricity.
Driving China’s Hydrogen Future and Global Decarbonization
The commissioning of Envision’s Chifeng facility not only strengthens China’s position in climate-friendly innovation but also significantly contributes to global decarbonization efforts. The plant’s ability to produce green ammonia on an industrial scale makes it a world-first in this regard, showcasing commercial viability for green ammonia exports. Envision has already secured a significant offtake agreement with Marubeni Corporation of Japan, planning to supply green ammonia to various sectors.
China has been vigorously investing in green hydrogen, solidifying its role as a leader in clean energy technologies, alongside its advancements in solar panels, electric vehicles, and battery storage. The country’s broader “green hydrogen plan” targets achieving a renewable hydrogen production capacity between 100,000 and 200,000 tons annually by 2025, with long-term plans to integrate clean hydrogen into sectors like energy storage.
Other Major Green Hydrogen Projects in China
While the Envision plant sets a new standard for closed-loop systems, China has several other large-scale green hydrogen projects underway, underscoring its commitment to becoming a global leader in this sector. One notable example is the Sinopec Kuqa project in Xinjiang, which began production in June 2023. This facility, developed by state oil company Sinopec, is a 260MW plant with an initial output of 10,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year, eventually ramping up to 20,000 tonnes annually. It primarily uses solar power and aims to replace fossil-based hydrogen at a nearby oil refinery, contributing to a reduction of approximately 485,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
These monumental projects, including the pioneering closed-loop system by Envision Energy, position China at the forefront of the global hydrogen economy, accelerating the transition towards a more sustainable and carbon-neutral future.
