Hydrogen: The next strategic choice for oil and gas companies

Not long ago, Sinopec announced that China's first oil-hydrocarbon joint station, Sinopec Foshan Yikeng Oil Hydrogen Joint Station, was officially completed. The hydrogen energy era is coming to us. Sinopec is not the world's first oil and gas company to cut into hydrogen energy. PetroChina, Shell, BP, Total and so on are actively deploying. How does hydrogen energy become the next strategic choice for oil and gas companies? The reporter recently interviewed Dr. Zhang Zhen, senior engineer of the Planning Department of China National Petroleum Corporation.

♦ Energy companies accelerate hydrogen energy layout

Several major leap-forward developments in human society are closely related to energy revolution. In 1913, the peak energy supply of coal accounted for 70%. After the 1960s, humans entered the oil and gas era. In 1973, the peak energy supply provided by oil accounted for 49%. Fuelwood, coal, and oil and gas also emit a large amount of carbon while transporting energy. The carbon emission coefficient of coal is 0.89kg/kWh, petroleum is 0.73kg/kWh, and natural gas is 0.5kg/kWh. A large amount of carbon dioxide and particulate matter are emitted into the atmosphere, causing certain pollution to the environment.

In the future, the world will enter a low-carbon era. The carbon emission coefficient of new clean energy will be greatly reduced. The photovoltaic is 0.09 kg/kWh, the bioenergy is 0.05kg/kWh, and the wind energy, nuclear power and hydropower are both 0.03kg/kWh.

The oil giants know that energy conversion will have a big impact on the existing market structure, and they are turning their attention to new energy sources. However, in the segmentation field, everyone's focus is different. BP, Shell, Total, PetroChina, and Sinopec all focus on hydrogen energy. Mobil, Chevron, and Norwegian National Oil focus on biofuels, wind energy, and geothermal energy, respectively. “There are many types of new energy sources to choose from in the future, and the “quantity” of hydrogen energy is huge. The hydrogen energy business is a secondary energy source that can be scaled up in the future and combined with the existing business of oil and gas companies,” said Zhang Zhen.

PetroChina and Sinopec are both producers and consumers of hydrogen in China. The annual output and consumption of hydrogen in the two companies is 3 million to 4.5 million tons. It is mainly used in refining and chemical industry. Over the years, it has accumulated rich technology for hydrogen preparation, storage and transportation. The gas station network has created conditions for oil and gas companies to develop hydrogenation operations. China has more than 120,000 gas station terminals, which can be converted into oil and hydrogen joint stations when conditions are available. This will be the most important advantage for PetroChina and Sinopec to carry out fuel cell vehicle hydrogenation business in the future. Sinopec's first oil-hydrogen joint construction station has been completed, and PetroChina's oil and hydrogen joint construction station will also be rolled out in key areas of the country, and then gradually promoted.

♦ Take advantage of its own advantages and cut into hydrogen energy

China's oil and gas exploration and production enterprises can use the northwest, northeast and other oilfield operation areas to develop "hydrogen and power generation" of renewable energy, and realize the coordinated development of renewable energy and low-cost hydrogen production. Oil and gas companies can use the advantages of resources to develop natural gas, refinery dry gas, and petroleum coke to produce hydrogen.

In the process of hydrogen storage and transportation, Chinese enterprises can take advantage of the existing natural gas pipeline network, and use the abandoned wind and abandoned light to transport to the eastern market in the future, which not only solves the market demand for resources, but also enhances waste energy. the value of.

Zhang Zhen said: "The existing long-distance pipelines are less tolerant to hydrogen, even if 1% of the mixed transport is not good. Germany can achieve 10% mixed transport, because its gas pipeline construction is relatively early, and existing The materials for pipeline construction are different. China's feeder pipelines can carry out mixed transportation business."

Pipeline transportation of hydrogen has an economic advantage, and in the future there will be a way of transporting hydrogen through a pure hydrogen pipeline. China's oil and gas companies also have the technical and empirical advantages in the construction and operation of pure hydrogen pipe networks, and can quickly enter the storage and transportation of high-pressure gaseous hydrogen. “After years of accumulation, China's oil and gas companies have rich experience in storage and transportation and infrastructure in the field of LNG and LPG, laying a good foundation for the storage and transportation of liquid hydrogen,” said Zhang Zhen.

Oil and gas companies have a promising future in the field of hydrogen energy, but they also face many challenges and disadvantages. The hydrogen energy industry has just been in the introduction stage, and the relevant standards and regulations are lacking. At present, the industry does not have economics, and subsidies by the state and local governments are not sustainable. Oil and gas companies lack experience in renewable energy generation, and lack experience in renewable electrolysis water for hydrogen production, mixed hydrogen transportation, and hydrogen refueling station construction and operation. The bigger disadvantage is that the cost of hydrogen production from natural gas is higher than the cost of hydrogen from coal. Zhang Zhen said: "At present, the cost of hydrogen production from coal is the lowest. But if a carbon tax is imposed, its disadvantage will immediately appear."

The development of hydrogen energy is the right strategic choice for oil and gas companies. However, due to the complexity of the industrial chain, the road must be tortuous. Enterprises should develop a long-term strategic layout, not for the “spray” or “falling tide” of industrial development. Affected by the trough, rationally carry out related business.