China's first carbon-neutral hydrogen fueling station emerges in Qingdao

The Haihe Road hydrogen fueling station of Sinopec Qingdao Refining & Chemical Co Ltd received a carbon-neutral certificate from a third-party authoritative body on March 17, making it the first of its kind in China.

Located within the hydrogen energy demonstration park of Sinopec Qingdao Refining & Chemical in Qingdao West Coast New Area, this cutting-edge station not only caters to hydrogen vehicles like public buses and hydrogen-powered trucks but also facilitates hydrogen filling for vehicles transporting the gas using long tube trailers.

In a bid to curtail energy consumption and establish a carbon-neutral hydrogen fueling station, Qingdao Refining & Chemical's researchers have harnessed and implemented "flexible virtual hydrogen storage" energy-saving technology. Furthermore, they have realized zero carbon emissions in the station's operations by harnessing 5.5 megawatts of solar power integrated with the facility.

Wang Mengmeng, manager of the storage and transportation department at Qingdao Refining & Chemical, said, "The photovoltaic project, integrated with the hydrogen fueling station, generates approximately 7 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually. The station's electricity consumption constitutes only about 30 percent of the total electricity generated by the photovoltaic project during the same period, underscoring our commitment to zero carbon emissions."

Since 2021, Qingdao Refining & Chemical has supplied over 800 metric tons of high-purity hydrogen to various hydrogen applications, including hydrogen-powered buses, logistics trucks, and ports.