10亿元示范收官：金昌给氯碱化工装上“绿氢引擎”1 Billion Yuan Demonstration Concludes: Jinchang Installs a 'Green Hydrogen Engine' in Chlor-Alkali Chemical Industry

Machuan

The first large-scale 'chlor-alkali chemical–green hydrogen–green electricity' collaborative demonstration project in Northwest China has entered the stage of construction completion and production in Jinchang, Gansu. According to publicly available project information, the total investment of the project is about 1 billion yuan, and it is planned to be fully completed and operational by October 2026, with an annual reduction of more than 80,000 tons of carbon dioxide.

Chlor-alkali is the 'electricity guzzler' in the chemical industry. The process of producing caustic soda, chlorine, and hydrogen through the electrolysis of brine consumes a high amount of electricity per unit of product, often accounting for more than 60% of production costs. For a long time, chlor-alkali enterprises have used grid electricity and steam for production, and most of the hydrogen produced in the process has been used on-site as an intermediate product or vented, resulting in high carbon emissions and energy costs.

What the Jinchang project aims to do is to integrate chlor-alkali production into a completely renewable energy system. Green electricity is supplied directly to the electrolytic cells, replacing part of the grid electricity; surplus green electricity is used for water electrolysis to produce hydrogen, and green hydrogen is then fed back into chlor-alkali and downstream product production. Electricity, hydrogen, and chemical raw materials circulate within the production chain, gradually squeezing out the footprint of fossil energy.

The industrial logic of 'hydrogen-electric coupling' is not complicated: the chlor-alkali industry requires both electricity and hydrogen, while green electricity and green hydrogen can convert into each other and serve as backups for one another. When photovoltaic power is abundant, green electricity can directly drive electrolyzers; during periods of low electricity demand or when grid regulation is needed, electricity can be used to produce hydrogen for energy storage, and hydrogen then becomes a chemical feedstock. For the grid, this is an adjustable flexible load; for enterprises, it is an energy solution that reduces both carbon emissions and costs.

Jinchang's inherent conditions are highly compatible with this model. Located in the Hexi Corridor, it is rich in wind and solar resources, with dense nearby wind and photovoltaic bases; at the same time, Jinchang is an important chlor-alkali chemical hub in Northwest China, with a foundation in nickel, cobalt, and other nonferrous metal smelting and chemical industries. The 'mutual advancement' of resource endowment and industrial foundation provides fertile ground for the implementation of demonstration projects.

From an industry perspective, chlor-alkali is just a microcosm of the decarbonization of high-energy-consuming chemical industries. The industries of synthetic ammonia, methanol, and refining also face the dual high-consumption issue of 'electricity and hydrogen,' and the pathway of coupling green electricity and green hydrogen can be applied across the board. At the national level, multiple policy documents have proposed promoting the large-scale application of green hydrogen in the chemical industry, and a number of hydrogen metallurgy and hydrogen-chemical coupling projects are being launched in Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, and other regions.

The value of demonstration projects lies in running the model successfully. An investment scale of one billion yuan is not particularly large for a chemical project, but its significance lies in verifying the feasibility of the 'green electricity–green hydrogen–chemical industry' closed loop in real production environments: whether the equipment can operate stably, whether costs can be brought down to an acceptable range, and whether emission reduction data can be realized. These answers carry more weight than the investment itself.

When the electrolyzers in the chlor-alkali industry begin to 'consume' green electricity and production lines start to 'use' green hydrogen, the connection between traditional high-energy industries and new power systems is no longer just a concept. The city of Jinchang, situated in the Gobi Desert, is using a one-billion-yuan demonstration project to provide a footnote for chemical industry decarbonization.

Source: Public information from the Zhongxiang Network project database and industry public reports.

The green transformation of the chlor-alkali industry actually follows two parallel main lines. One is the cleaning of the energy structure, that is, increasing the proportion of green electricity in power consumption; the other is the valorization of hydrogen, turning hydrogen produced as a by-product from electrolyzing brine and new green hydrogen from a "by-product" into a "product." The Jinchang demonstration project combines these two main lines: green electricity drives the electrolysis cells, green hydrogen enters chemical production, and by-product hydrogen is used in coordination with green hydrogen, achieving a closed loop of energy flow and material flow within the plant area.

From the perspective of resource matching, Jinchang has a practical foundation for developing green hydrogen-chemical coupling. The local and surrounding areas are rich in wind and solar resources, with several large wind-solar bases already built in the Hexi Corridor and well-established power transmission channels; meanwhile, Jinchang relies on nickel and cobalt resources to form industrial clusters such as non-ferrous metal smelting and chlor-alkali chemical production, with high industrial electricity loads and genuine hydrogen demand. The short distance between the resource side and the demand side means lower costs for absorbing green electricity and green hydrogen.

Support at the policy level is also increasing. In recent years, departments such as the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration have issued multiple documents explicitly encouraging green hydrogen to replace fossil energy-based hydrogen in sectors like chemicals and metallurgy, and supporting the construction of integrated "green electricity—green hydrogen—green chemical" projects. Provinces rich in wind and solar resources, such as Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Ningxia, have all included hydrogen-coupled chemical industries as key industrial directions.

Of course, the economic viability of the coupling model still needs to be tested over time. Currently, the cost of green hydrogen is still higher than gray hydrogen. Whether chemical enterprises can bear temporary cost increases and whether carbon trading revenues can partially offset them are key variables for the sustainable operation of projects. Industry estimates generally believe that, as the price of electrolyzers decreases and the cost of green electricity falls, the price gap between green hydrogen and gray hydrogen is narrowing, and the breakeven point for coupled projects is expected to arrive sooner.

Another value of the Jinchang project lies in providing replicable engineering experience for similar industrial parks. Processes in the chemical industries such as chlor-alkali, synthetic ammonia, and methanol are similar, and their energy structures are alike. A validated solution of 'direct green electricity supply with green hydrogen replenishment' can be quickly replicated in other high-energy-consuming chemical parks. The significance of demonstration has never been limited to the demonstration itself.

When a 1 billion yuan investment results in a replicable decarbonization pathway, the transformation story of Jinchang, this industrial city on the Gobi Desert, becomes more persuasive. After equipping the chlor-alkali industry with a 'green hydrogen engine,' the connection between traditional chemical industries and new power systems will become closer, and more high-energy-consuming industries will also direct their attention to the Hexi Corridor.

For energy industry observers, the real highlight of Kangbao is not the production figures of a single project, but that it demonstrates a complete chain of 'hydrogen production at the resource site—liquid hydrogen storage and transportation—cross-regional circulation.' Each link in this chain still has room for optimization, but the chain itself is already taking shape. The next milestone in China's green hydrogen industry may well begin with such a factory on the Bashang Plateau.

The implementation of the Liquid Sunshine Project also drives opportunities for a number of industrial chain enterprises. Suppliers of electrolyzers, catalyst manufacturers, carbon dioxide capture equipment companies, and wind-solar EPC contractors are all collaborating and competing around the Wushenqi project. The procurement and technical validation of a 100,000-ton-level project provide a real-world scenario for the localization and iteration of domestic green hydrogen chemical equipment.

The global energy transition also lends credibility to Liquid Sunshine. As global shipping emission reduction regulations tighten and the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism expands its coverage, the international demand for green methanol is expected to heat up. China possesses world-leading wind and solar manufacturing and engineering construction capabilities, and if it can establish an independent system in green hydrogen chemical processes, green methanol could become a new export category.

Of course, the industrialization of any new technology carries risks. Fluctuations in green hydrogen costs, the cyclical nature of methanol market prices, and uncertainties in carbon trading mechanisms could all affect project investment returns. For this reason, China Coal Enechem's demonstration project is especially valuable—it invests real money to explore the boundaries for the industry, and regardless of success or failure, it will provide a reference point for future ventures.

For the chemical industry, the value of green hydrogen is not only in carbon reduction but also an extension of energy security. Hydrogen production from green electricity breaks away from dependence on fossil fuels, and the sources of raw materials are more diverse and controllable; for regions in the northwest with both fossil resources and wind and solar resources, hydrogen-electricity coupling means transforming local resource endowments into industrial competitiveness.

[Research supporting institutions: Energy and Dual-Carbon Research Center, China Industrial Newspaper | China Energy Industry Development Network]