PARIS: By the end of 2023, China will control half the world’s installed capacity of electrolysers for producing low-carbon hydrogen amid a slowdown in new projects due to inflation, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report released on Friday (Sep 22).
“After a slow start, China has taken the lead on electrolyser deployment,” the IEA report on hydrogen said.
China’s installed electrolyser capacity has jumped significantly in recent years, and is expected to reach 1.2 gigawatts – 50 per cent of the global capacity – after having accounted for just 10 per cent of the global capacity in 2020.
Electrolysers are devices used for the industrial separation of hydrogen and oxygen within water molecules, using electricity obtained through renewable energy sources such as solar, wind or nuclear.
With the green energy transition underway, electrolysers are becoming essential to replace traditional methods of producing industrial hydrogen.
These have relied on polluting methane gas in a process linked to the petrochemical industry which is inexpensive but results in greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: CNA
