Recently, Sinopec Guangxi Petroleum Nanning Revitalization Refueling Station was completed and entered the trial production stage, which is China's first commercial distributed ammonia hydrogen production and hydrogenation integrated station, which provides a new path for solving the transportation and storage problems faced by the development of China's hydrogen energy industry.
According to the different hydrogen **, hydrogen refueling stations can be divided into two categories: off-site hydrogen supply hydrogen refueling stations and in-station hydrogen production and hydrogen refueling integrated stations, most of the hydrogen refueling stations currently in use in China are external hydrogen supply and hydrogen refueling stations, which have great restrictions in transportation and storage, and the cost of hydrogen has been high.
1.Economy: The integrated production and processing station saves the transportation cost of hydrogen and can reduce the safety risks caused by storage and transportation. At the same time, the integrated hydrogen production and refueling station can also be used as a hydrogen refueling mother station to supply hydrogen to surrounding hydrogen refueling stations to increase revenue.
According to public information on the Internet, for the integrated hydrogen production and refueling station, the cost of hydrogen production by water electrolysis in the station is 0In the case of 45 yuan kWh, the cost of hydrogen production by alkaline water electrolysis and proton exchange membrane water electrolysis technology is 26 yuan and 39 yuan respectively, which is advantageous compared with the hydrogen price of external hydrogen supply.
From the perspective of operating costs, the hydrogen production and refueling integrated station solves the problem that it is possible to achieve operational profitability only when the external hydrogen refueling station meets the needs of low hydrogen source** and high filling load at the same time.
2.Improve efficiency: It can alleviate the current problems such as energy replenishment difficulties caused by the "separation of production and use" of hydrogen energy, and improve operational efficiency in the hydrogen refueling process.
The biggest reason for the concentration of hydrogen production and refueling stations is that hydrogen is still a hazardous chemical due to its flammable and explosive properties. Under the restrictions of regulations, most hydrogen production projects are concentrated in chemical parks with high safety management and environmental protection requirements.
Secondly, chemical parks usually have relatively complete industrial infrastructure, which provides a guarantee for the construction and operation of hydrogen refueling stations.
In addition, hydrogen refueling stations usually have high industrial by-product hydrogen resources, which provides stable hydrogen for the operation of hydrogen production and refueling stations**.
1.Land issues: The approval process for land for hydrogen refueling stations is complex and time-consuming, with a high degree of uncertainty. In contrast, the conversion of existing gas stations into hydrogen refueling stations can avoid land problems, but they tend to be small in scale and have insufficient hydrogen refueling capacity.
2.Difficulty in approval: Hydrogen is listed as a hazardous chemical by domestic policies, so hydrogen refueling stations need to be approved according to the gas management approval path, and need to obtain "two certificates and one license". Although the policies of some cities have been gradually relaxed, most cities are still strict about the approval of hydrogen refueling stations.
3.Difficulty in special planning: In terms of policy planning, only the number of hydrogen refueling stations is often set, and there is a lack of more detailed special planning guidance and deployment of hydrogen refueling stations.
According to public information on the Internet, in 2023, according to the hydrogen price requirements of the demonstration urban agglomeration, the ** hydrogen refueling will be 35 yuan per kilogram, and the ** subsidy will be 15 yuan per kilogram.
For the integrated water electrolysis station, if the average daily filling load can reach 30%, it can basically achieve breakeven. If the average daily filling load exceeds 70%, it is still profitable to achieve without operating subsidies.
However, judging from the actual situation of the integrated production and processing stations and even all types of hydrogen refueling stations that have been put into operation in China, only a few stations have reached the standard of profitability in terms of average daily refueling volume, most of the stations are still at a low refueling load level, and even some stations cannot obtain operating licenses and put into operation.
Therefore, the main direction of reducing the cost of the hydrogen production and refueling integrated station at the current stage is still to save expenses, and it is impossible to achieve real profitability.
In the medium and long-term plan for the development of the hydrogen energy industry (2021-2035), the new requirements of "exploring new models such as hydrogen refueling stations integrating hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and hydrogen refueling in the station" are clearly proposed. Guangdong, Shandong, Hebei, Shanghai and other regions have also successively issued documents to "loosen" the policy for the integrated hydrogen production and refueling station, so that hydrogen production and hydrogenation can be separated from the location restrictions of chemical parks.
Demonstration projects of integrated production and refueling, such as the Three Gorges Dam Hydrogen Production and Hydrogenation Integrated Station and the Dalian Methanol Hydrogen Production and Hydrogenation Integrated Station, have entered the stage of construction and commissioning.
In addition, there are also technical specifications for the integrated production and processing station:
In February 2023, the Dalian Area of the Liaoning Free ** Pilot Zone issued the country's first "Technical Specifications for Integrated Hydrogen Production and Refueling Stations" in this field.
In May 2023, Guangdong Province issued an announcement on soliciting opinions on local standards for the "Safety Technical Specifications for Integrated Hydrogen Production and Refueling Stations (Draft for Approval)".
With the large-scale development of hydrogen energy, the daily refueling capacity of the hydrogen production and refueling integrated station will be increased to a certain extent. In areas where there is no hydrogen source or the hydrogen source is far away, the hydrogen production and refueling integrated station will be further developed by virtue of its advantage of self-produced hydrogen.
Author: An Yi).