China’s SPIC announces $5.9bn green fuels investment

China’s State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) announced $5.9bn (42bn Yuan) investment to produce green fuel from hydrogen produced via wind power, a report by Reuters showed.

The projects, that include a 3.5GW wind power plant, a 164,000 metric ton per annum hydrogen-making facility and 400,000 ton per annum each of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and methanol, will be built in Qiqihaer city of Heilongjiang province, according to a report carried on the city’s official WeChat platform.

SPIC will first build a 10,000-ton per annum pilot plant making SAF from wind power based hydrogen applying technology from Tsing Energy Development Co.

The report did not give a timeline building these plants, but a senior Chinese industry executive familiar with the investment said the SAF plant is slated for first fuel in late 2025, Reuters said.

Once the pilot project becomes successful it will be expanded to 400,000 tons annually by around 2030, the official added. A SPIC representative confirmed the city government’s report, but declined to comment on the timelines of project building.

State-run SPIC has the largest renewables resources among China’s state utilities, operating a total of 160-GW installed clean power capacity.