(Yicai) Dec. 16 -- The world’s largest green hydrogen–ammonia–methanol integrated project, built by China’s state-owned energy infrastructure giant China Energy Engineering Corp., has entered operation in Northeast China’s Jilin province, marking a milestone in the deep integration of renewable energy and the chemical industry.

Located in Songyuan, Jilin, the Qingqing No. 1 project has a total planned investment of nearly CNY30 billion (USD4.3 billion). It will ultimately deploy three million kilowatts of wind and photovoltaic power generation capacity and support green synthetic ammonia and green methanol facilities with a combined annual output of 800,000 tons, CCTV News reported today.

Under the project’s model, electricity generated from wind and photovoltaic sources is transmitted to a chemical industrial park to electrolyze water and produce hydrogen, which is then converted into ammonia and methanol through mature chemical processes. This enables long-term storage and transportation of green energy to global markets, per the report.

The first phase, which began operation today, includes 800,000 kilowatts of new energy power generation capacity and green synthetic ammonia and methanol facilities with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons. Once fully operational, the phase is expected to reduce standard coal consumption by about 600,000 tons and cut carbon emissions by 1.4 million tons per year, according to the report.

The project has overcome the long-standing challenge of matching the volatility of wind and solar power generation with the stable operating requirements of the chemical industry, opening up a practical new path for China to absorb large-scale renewable energy and advance the development of green chemicals, said Ni Zhen, chairman of China Energy Engineering.

To address the core issue of unstable renewable power output, the Qingqing No. 1 team has applied technologies, including Big Data and artificial intelligence, to adjust hydrogen production and chemical processing loads in real time based on wind and solar output. This ensures continuous chemical production while maximizing renewable energy utilization, project technicians said.

China has accelerated the green and low-carbon transformation of its energy sector this year. The country’s annual hydrogen production capacity from renewable energy sources has exceeded 220,000 tons, accounting for more than 50 percent of global green hydrogen capacity, while the combined annual capacity of green ammonia and green methanol stands at around one million tons, Wang Hongzhi, head of the National Energy Administration, said at the National Energy Work Conference held yesterday.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Emmi Laine