Shell starts China green hydrogen plant at Winter Games host city

BEIJING: Shell said on Friday (Jan 28) it has started production at its 20 megawatt (MW) zero-carbon hydrogen project in Zhangjiakou, a northern Chinese city co-hosting what President Xi Jinping has vowed will be the "green" 2022 Winter Olympics.

The project, which will produce green hydrogen by splitting water molecules with electricity from onshore wind farms, will provide about half of the total green hydrogen supply for fuel cell vehicles at the Zhangjiakou competition zone during the Games, set to kick off on Feb 4.

Chinese officials have said all 26 Olympic venues in Beijing and Hebei province would be 100 per cent powered by renewable energy, while more than 700 hydrogen-fuelled vehicles will also be deployed.

"This project will help secure hydrogen supply for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and make it a green one while contributing to the development of hydrogen industry in the city and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region," Bai Jing, a government official of Zhangjiakou city, said in a statement.

The project is part of a joint venture between Shell China and Zhangjiakou City Transport Construction Investment Holding Group and is Shell's first commercial hydrogen project in China.

The companies plan to scale up the project to 60 MW in the next two years, according to the statement.

After the Winter Games, the hydrogen will be used for public and commercial transport in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

In October, Shell announced it was considering investing in a 150 MW hydrogen electrolyser facility in China.