内蒙古以7盟市示范牵引构建氢能产业发展新格局Inner Mongolia is using seven leagues and cities as demonstration drivers to build a new pattern for hydrogen energy industry development

Not long ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly approved five national hydrogen energy comprehensive application pilot city clusters, with a pilot period of four years. Seven leagues and cities in Inner Mongolia received the "entry ticket," making it one of the provinces with the largest number of cities participating in cross-regional hydrogen energy pilot programs in the country.

The four leagues and cities of Ordos, Baotou, Wuhai, and Xilingol included in the Yellow River Bend–Central Plains city cluster mainly focus on pilot demonstrations of comprehensive hydrogen energy applications in industrial scenarios; Ulanqab, included in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster, focuses on green hydrogen supply security and trunk freight demonstration; Chifeng and Hinggan League, included in the Northeast (including Eastern Inner Mongolia)–Yangtze River Delta city cluster, leverage Eastern Inner Mongolia’s wind and solar advantages to develop wind and solar-based hydrogen and green ammonia projects, deeply connecting with the "North Hydrogen to South Transport" corridor.

At the upstream hydrogen production end, on June 29, 2023, China’s first 10,000-ton-level renewable energy hydrogen production project—the Narisuong Photovoltaic Hydrogen Production Demonstration Project in Zhungeer Banner, Ordos City—successfully produced its first batch of green hydrogen; the 200,000-kilowatt wind-solar hydrogen production demonstration project in Damao Banner, Baotou City, has been operating steadily for more than two years. At the midstream storage and transportation end, the world’s first solid-state low-pressure hydrogen storage production line was put into operation in Baotou, and Inner Mongolia’s first approved green hydrogen pipeline project—the 195-kilometer hydrogen transport pipeline from Damao Banner to Baotou urban area—has been fully connected and is about to be put into operation. Across the region, four hydrogen transport pipelines have been approved, with a total length of 405 kilometers.

At the downstream application end, in September this year, the world's largest green methanol project — the Inner Mongolia Green Hydrogen 1.45 million-ton Green Methanol Project — successfully shipped its first batch of products. In Baotou City, six hydrogen transportation routes have been built around coal transport, with more than 160 hydrogen heavy trucks in operation. Hydrogen-powered mining vehicles have successfully rolled off the production line, and more than 2,300 hydrogen shared two-wheel vehicles have entered commercial zones and plazas. In Xilin Gol League, the Datang Duolun 150,000-kilowatt wind-solar integrated hydrogen production demonstration project has successfully connected to the grid. By August this year, it had produced a total of 4,720 tons of green hydrogen, replaced 19,800 tons of methanol produced from gray hydrogen, and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 92,800 tons.

Today, Inner Mongolia's green hydrogen 'production, storage, transportation, and utilization' full industry chain has taken initial shape, with a green hydrogen production capacity of 80,000 tons per year, ranking among the top in China. Inner Mongolia will take the opportunity of hydrogen energy comprehensive application pilot projects in seven leagues and cities to turn the national-level 'ticket to enter the field' into an initial strategic move to accelerate the industry’s leapfrogging development.

[Source: Inner Mongolia Daily]