CNOOC Launches Clean Energy Company with Focus on Wind Power and Hydrogen Production
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) setting up a new company, the "CNOOC Clean Energy Development Company" on January 22, which is dedicated to achieving the goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality".
The company is formed by integrating the former CNOOC Pipeline Development Company and the new energy technology project team. The research and development field of the former new energy technology project team covers hydrogen fuel cell technology.
CNOOC has indicated that while its main focus is on the offshore wind energy market, it will also actively explore the possibilities of clean energy projects such as distributed energy, geothermal energy, and hydrogen energy.
In CNOOC's latest strategy, it has committed to allocating 3-5% of its annual capital expenditure to offshore wind energy development. The development of hydrogen energy has put CNOOC at the forefront of the "green hydrogen" movement.
Offshore electrolysis hydrogen technology, as part of the renewable energy hydrogen production, has been a focus of attention in Europe, with deployment in countries such as the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, etc. China also has offshore hydrogen production projects, such as the "Qingdao Shenyuanha 200 MW Offshore Wind Energy Fusion Demonstration Wind Farm Project" and the "Gyuanyuan Wind Energy Hydrogen Comprehensive Utilization Demonstration Project."
Based on its offshore wind energy development strategy, CNOOC has also made a series of deployments in offshore wind energy hydrogen production. In July 2020, CNOOC signed a cooperation agreement with Linde, indicating that the two parties would work together to explore and promote the development of China's hydrogen energy industry and establish a hydrogen transportation alliance. In September 2020, media reported that CNOOC had added the development of offshore wind energy green hydrogen to its strategic plan and had already started researching and reserving key professional knowledge for offshore wind energy hydrogen production technology.
In November 2020, Tongji University won the bid for the CNOOC offshore hydrogen production research project, with a winning bid amount of 1.26 million yuan. The project aims to research and optimize the process flow of offshore wind power hydrogen production and propose the boundary conditions of technical and economic feasibility. The main content includes: (1) selection and technical research of offshore electrolysis hydrogen production process; (2) compatibility research of offshore wind power and hydrogen production equipment; (3) research on offshore hydrogen storage and hydrogen transportation technology.
According to data from relevant media statistics in October 2020, among the state-owned enterprises involved in green hydrogen projects, CNOOC is the only giant committed to offshore hydrogen production.
As China's largest offshore oil and gas producer, CNOOC's layout in the hydrogen energy industry, especially in the offshore wind power hydrogen production field, has a huge driving effect on the entire industrial chain, which will effectively promote the development of offshore hydrogen production and renewable energy hydrogen projects in China and help achieve the goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutral.