Hydrogen energy industry top-level plan released
Hydrogen energy is a kind of secondary energy with abundant sources, green and low carbon, and wide application. It is of great significance to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and achieve the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.
The “Plan” makes overall planning and the overall layout of the development of the entire hydrogen energy industry chain, which is not only an important starting point for the green and low-carbon transformation of energy, but also points out the direction for promoting the scientific, orderly and healthy development of my country’s hydrogen energy industry. Based on the iron and steel industry, the author interprets and analyzes the relevant work points in the “Planning” for discussion and reference.
1. Hydrogen energy production—mainly clean and low-carbon
The “Plan” defines the principles of clean and low-carbon development of hydrogen energy, and puts forward development goals. By 2025, hydrogen production from renewable energy will reach 100,000-200,000 tons per year, becoming an important part of new hydrogen energy consumption, and initially establish hydrogen energy based on industrial by-product hydrogen and renewable energy hydrogen production nearby. supply system. The “Planning” requires that, in combination with the characteristics of resource endowments and industrial layout, the hydrogen production technology route should be selected according to local conditions, and efforts should be made to build a clean, low-carbon, and low-cost diversified hydrogen production system, focusing on the development of renewable energy hydrogen production, and strictly controlling fossil energy hydrogen production . The “Plan” aims to bring new development opportunities for iron and steel enterprises on the hydrogen energy supply side.
(1) Make full use of the advantages of by-product hydrogen in iron and steel enterprises
The “Plan” proposes to give priority to the use of industrial by-product hydrogen, encourage nearby consumption, and reduce the cost of industrial by-product hydrogen supply. At present, the annual output of hydrogen in my country is about 33 million tons per year, mainly from fossil energy hydrogen production and industrial by-product hydrogen. Coal hydrogen production and natural gas hydrogen production account for nearly 80%, chlor-alkali, coke oven gas, propane dehydrogenation, etc. Industrial by-product hydrogen accounts for about 20%. my country’s iron and steel enterprises are mainly based on long-term processes, and are generally equipped with coking plants. Iron and steel enterprises usually use excess coke oven gas for power generation or sales, resulting in a mismatch in the value of high-quality energy to a certain extent. In the current period of time, the production of hydrogen from coke oven gas can greatly reduce the cost of hydrogen production on the one hand, and on the other hand, it also avoids the energy loss of energy conversion in the process of “fossil energy power generation-hydrogen production by electrolysis of water”.
(2) Fully develop the renewable resources of iron and steel enterprises
The “Plan” proposes to carry out hydrogen production demonstrations from renewable energy, gradually expand the scale of demonstrations, and explore seasonal energy storage and grid peak shaving. Although my country’s renewable energy hydrogen production volume is not large, the development trend is very positive. The installed capacity of renewable energy is the largest in the world, and it has great potential in the supply of clean and low-carbon hydrogen energy. Iron and steel enterprises can use the roofs of factory buildings to build distributed photovoltaic power generation systems, and iron ore enterprises can make full use of tailings ponds to build wind-solar integrated power stations, carry out renewable energy hydrogen production projects, and effectively promote the energy structure adjustment of iron and steel enterprises.
2. Hydrogen energy storage and transportation – safety and controllability first
The “Plan” puts forward the principle of safety first, and regards safety as an inherent requirement for the development of the hydrogen energy industry. The “Plan” clearly points out that it is necessary to steadily build a storage and transportation system, on the premise of safety and controllability, actively promote the innovation of technical materials and processes, and support the exploration and practice of various storage and transportation methods. Gradually build a high-density, lightweight, low-cost, and diversified hydrogen energy storage and transportation system. Infrastructure construction such as hydrogen energy storage and transportation creates new application scenarios for steel materials.
(1) Diversification of hydrogen energy storage and transportation methods
The “Planning” proposes to improve the efficiency of high-pressure gas storage and transportation, speed up the reduction of storage and transportation costs, and effectively improve the commercialization level of high-pressure gas storage and transportation. Carry out pilot demonstrations of hydrogen-doped natural gas pipelines and pure hydrogen pipelines. The utilization of hydrogen energy is mainly based on on-site production and on-site consumption, and the transportation distance of hydrogen is relatively short. At this stage, my country mainly relies on high-pressure gaseous long-tube trailer transportation, and pipeline transportation is still a weak point. The mileage of hydrogen pipelines is about 400 kilometers, and the pipelines in use are only about 100 kilometers. With the gradual expansion of the application scope of hydrogen energy in my country, the hydrogen pipeline network will become an inevitable trend for low-cost hydrogen transportation.
(2) Rapid growth in the construction of hydrogen refueling stations
The “Planning” proposes to deploy and build a number of hydrogen refueling stations, and explore new models such as hydrogen refueling stations integrating hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and hydrogen refueling in the stations. For small and scattered end-use hydrogen demand such as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, hydrogen refueling stations are an essential transit link. Up to now, a total of 22 provinces and cities across the country have laid out hydrogen refueling infrastructure, and a total of 200 hydrogen refueling stations of various types have been built, and more than 157 hydrogen refueling stations are in operation. Japan, which has more than 147 stations, ranks first in the world, mainly serving public services. Cars, logistics vehicles and trucks, etc.
Due to the hydrogen embrittlement of hydrogen and steel, storage and transportation of hydrogen have special requirements for storage and transportation materials. Therefore, how to realize economical, efficient and safe hydrogen storage technology is the key to the practical and industrialization of hydrogen energy utilization. The research on relevant domestic hydrogen storage and transportation materials is still in the early stage, and key components and materials still rely on imports. Facing the broad application scenarios of hydrogen energy in the future, iron and steel enterprises can research and develop steel varieties for hydrogen refueling stations, storage and transportation tanks, and hydrogen pipelines.
3. Steel application – demonstration of prudence and prudence
The “Planning” proposes the principle of prudent application and demonstration first. It is strictly forbidden to “race the horse and staking the land” if it is not done in one step. The “Planning” clearly adheres to the combination of points and lines, and points to areas, expands the application scenarios of hydrogen energy according to local conditions, and carefully promotes the diversified applications of hydrogen energy in industry and other fields. The application scenarios of hydrogen energy in the steel industry mainly include the following two aspects:
(1) Hydrogen energy metallurgy
The “Plan” proposes to continuously improve the economy of hydrogen energy utilization, carry out the research and development and application of hydrogen metallurgy technology using hydrogen as a reducing agent, explore the application of hydrogen energy as a high-quality heat source in industrial production, and expand the application scale of hydrogen energy to replace fossil energy in the industrial field. . The development and application of hydrogen metallurgy technology using hydrogen as a reducing agent is one of the important ways for green and low-carbon development of the iron and steel industry, and the potential for hydrogen energy application in iron and steel enterprises is huge. In 2021, my country’s crude steel output will be 1.035 billion tons. According to the comprehensive energy consumption of 549kgce of iron and steel enterprises in the key statistics of China Iron and Steel Association, the total energy consumption of the iron and steel industry will be 568 million tons of standard coal. If the energy consumption of the iron and steel industry is 10% Replacing it with hydrogen energy requires about 11.63 million tons of hydrogen, which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 190 million tons, which is of great significance for my country to achieve carbon neutrality.
In recent years, some iron and steel enterprises in my country have cooperated with scientific research institutions to actively carry out exploration and research on hydrogen energy metallurgy technology, and conduct industrial tests, which have achieved certain results. China Baowu, Hegang Group, Jianlong Group and other large steel complexes took the lead in carrying out hydrogen energy metallurgy test demonstrations. In February 2022, the construction of the million-ton hydrogen-based shaft furnace project of China Baowu Zhanjiang Iron and Steel Zero-Carbon Demonstration Plant was officially started. This project is the first one-million-ton hydrogen-based shaft furnace in China and the first integrated hydrogen and coke oven gas. Direct reduction line for industrial production.
(2) Clean transportation
The “Planning” proposes to focus on promoting the application of hydrogen fuel cells for medium and heavy vehicles based on basic conditions such as local hydrogen energy supply capacity, industrial environment and market space, combined with the development characteristics of the road transportation industry, in mining areas, ports, industrial parks, etc. In the fixed area of the driving route, explore the demonstration application of hydrogen fuel cell truck transportation. According to relevant statistics, in 2021, my country’s hydrogen energy heavy trucks will have the fastest sales growth among new energy heavy trucks, with a year-on-year increase of more than 33 times. More than 400 hydrogen energy heavy trucks will be delivered to customers in the first nine months of 2021, far exceeding 17 in 2020. Taiwan’s sales. “Diesel to hydrogen” is an important direction to promote the application of hydrogen energy. It is estimated that by 2050, more than 50% of heavy-duty trucks will use hydrogen fuel cells as engines.
According to the requirements of the ultra-low emission A-level enterprise standard in the steel industry, the proportion of clean transportation must reach more than 80%. The application of hydrogen energy heavy trucks has important practical significance for the environmental protection and innovation of steel enterprises. In July 2021, the first batch of 30 49-ton hydrogen energy heavy trucks of Hegang Group was put into operation, mainly used for cargo transportation from Tangshan Port Jingtang Port Area to Tangshan Iron and Steel New Area. This is the first market-oriented operation in my country. Hydrogen heavy truck transportation line. The Rongcheng Zhonghe Hydrogen Energy Project is the first demonstration application scenario of hydrogen energy transportation in Tianjin. The project includes a hydrogen refueling station and 11 hydrogen energy heavy trucks.