China launches 400 MW PV-Hydrogen-Storage Project, With 50% Hydrogen Co-Firing

China's largest integrated PV-hydrogen-storage project has completed construction in east China's Jiangsu Province. The project, with a total photovoltaic capacity of 400 MW, includes a newly built 220 kV onshore booster station, a hydrogen production facility with a capacity of 1,500 standard cubic metres per hour, and an electrochemical energy storage station.

The project has achieved two major milestones for the first time: 50% green hydrogen co-firing and 100% pure hydrogen combustion. The facility enables hydrogen and pulverised coal to be thoroughly mixed and combusted within the boiler, achieving hydrogen co-firing at a 50% heat input ratio in a 40 MW coal-fired boiler—a world-first application of its kind. The technology can reduce coal consumption and carbon emissions by up to 50%, while also significantly lowering nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. With onsite solar and storage, it can also allow use of green hydrogen if required.

The latest development follows a large-capacity pilot-scale hydrogen-coal co-firing test conducted on June 7 by Yantai Longyuan Power Technology, a subsidiary of CHN Energy Technology & Environment Limited. The test was carried out at the company's 40 MW Boiler Clean Combustion Engineering Laboratory.

The project utilises a fully self-developed low-NOx burner designed for hydrogen-coal co-firing and incorporates a safety protection system covering the entire process, from hydrogen delivery to in-furnace combustion.

Produced using electricity generated from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, green hydrogen emits only water when combusted, making it a zero-carbon fuel. According to the project developers, this achievement provides a viable technological pathway for large-scale carbon reduction at China's existing coal-fired power plants.

The project is also expected to play a significant role in advancing the green and low-carbon transformation of coal-fired power generation while promoting the integrated development of coal power and renewable energy.