December 12, 2023 [Reuters]- China’s State Power Investment Corp announced a 42 billion yuan ($5.85 billion) investment plan in northeast China to produce fuel from hydrogen produced from wind power, according to a company official and a local government report.

The projects, that include a 3.5 gigawatt wind power plant, a 164,000 metric ton per year hydrogen-making facility and 400,000 tpy each of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and methanol, will be built in Qiqihaer city of Heilongjiang province, according to a report carried on the city’s official WeChat platform.

SPIC will first build a 10,000-tpy pilot plant making SAF from wind power based hydrogen applying technology from Tsing Energy Development Co, the report said, billing the project the first of its kind in China.

The report did not give a timeline building these plants, but a senior Chinese industry executive familiar with the investment told Reuters the SAF plant is slated for first fuel in late 2025.

The official, who declined to be named as these details are not public, said the technology involves blending hydrogen with carbon dioxide derived from corn-based ethanol.

Once the pilot project becomes successful it will be expanded to 400,000 tons annually by around 2030, the official added.

A SPIC representative confirmed the city government’s report, but declined to comment on the timelines of project building.

State-run SPIC has the largest renewables resources among China’s state utilities, operating a total of 160-GW installed clean power capacity.

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