Cummins and Sinopec form green hydrogen JV for Chinese market

A new joint venture has been formed by American multinational energy firm Cummins and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) to reduce the costs and increase the availability of green hydrogen to road tankers across China.

Cummins Enze, the new joint venture, will kickstart its operations in China with a $47 million investment that will see the construction of green hydrogen manufacturing plant in Foshan, the country’s ecological base for the hydrogen energy industry, according to a statement.

The plant in Foshan is expected to produce 500MW of green hydrogen per annum once completed in 2023. Production will be scaled up in the next five years in line with the anticipated growth in demand as decarbonisation and the use of green hydrogen in climate change mitigation will intensify. Cummins Enze aims for the plant to produce 1GW of green hydrogen per annum.

Cummins and Sinopec say they will provide their expertise in hydrogen production to make Cummins Enze a success and a key player in technology innovation, research and development, and manufacturing.

Cummins has deployed over 2,000 fuel cells and 600 electrolysers globally whilst Sinopec produces more than 3.5 million tonnes of hydrogen per annum, the equivalent to 14 percent of China’s annual hydrogen production.

Cummins Enze will leverage Sinopec’s resources in supply chain optimisation, sales, and marketing network to fuel its growth across China.

Cummins Enze is expected to help speed up the adoption of green hydrogen to decarbonise industries and power fuel cell vehicles.

The joint venture will offer electrolysers for both small-scale hydrogen production, such as a hydrogen fuelling system for on-site hydrogen generation, as well as for large-scale hydrogen generation installations capable of 100 MW and beyond.

Cummins will use the joint venture to expand its presence within the Chinese energy market with the company to date operating 30 facilities including 21 engine manufacturing sites in the country.

Amy Davis, vice president at Cummins, said: “China’s embrace of green hydrogen is a breakthrough for the planet, and Cummins and Sinopec joining together to realise the potential of green hydrogen is a huge leap forward for scaling our innovative PEM electrolyser systems.”

The formation of Cummins Enze comes at a time China is struggling with decarbonising its energy supply whilst meeting growing energy demand resulting in the construction of more coal power plants despite being the world’s largest greenhouse gases emitter and calls to decarbonise.

Zhou Yuxuan, chairman of Cummins Enze, added: “Green hydrogen is the ultimate technology of the hydrogen energy industry in the future. “Both grey and blue hydrogen technologies (grey hydrogen with carbon capture technology) are just a transition. We will use Sinopec’s current industry resources and layout the green hydrogen industry chain to achieve greater progress.”

For more information visit www.cummins.com