Shell starts 20MW hydrogen electrolyser in China

Shell said on Friday it has started operations of its first hydrogen electrolyser in China – a 20 megawatts (MW) project in Hebei Province’s Zhangjiakou City, which hosts the 2022 Winter Olympic Games next month.

Powered by onshore wind, the power-to-hydrogen electrolyser will initially supply green hydrogen fuel to a fleet of more than 600 fuel cell vehicles in the Zhangjiakou competition zone of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Shell said in a statement on Friday.

The electrolyser – one of the world’s largest – took 13 months to complete and is part of the first phase of a joint venture with Zhangjiakou City Transport Construction Investment Holding Group. Shell holds a 49 percent stake in the project.

“The electrolyser is the largest in our portfolio to date and is in line with Shell’s Powering Progress strategy, which includes plans to build on our leading position in hydrogen,” Wael Sawan, Shell’s Integrated Gas, Renewable and Energy Solutions Director, said in the statement. “We see opportunities across the hydrogen supply chain in China, including its production, storage and shipping,” he added.

Following the conclusion of the Games, the hydrogen will be used for public and commercial transport in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, helping to decarbonise its mobility sector. The second phase of Shell’s joint venture will be to scale up production to 60 megawatts in the next two years, the company said.