Source: Xinhua News Agency
The industrial chain is now connected, forming a new energy industry layout of “PV-generated green electricity and green electricity-produced green hydrogen.”
On July 2, the fully seawater-based floating photovoltaic (PV) project of Sinopec Qingdao Refining and Chemical Co., Ltd. was completed and commissioned. This is China’s first fully seawater-environment floating PV project to achieve industrial operation. Combined with the previously commissioned pile-based water surface PV system, it has become Sinopec’s largest water surface PV power station to date. The entire project is expected to generate 16.7 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 14,000 tonnes—equivalent to planting 750,000 additional trees. It provides an important demonstration for the promotion of floating PV in coastal and shallow sea areas under full seawater conditions.
Tapping into land-use potential and creating a new “dual-use” model. The floating PV power station is located in a water area connected to the sea, utilizing the surface of the seawater for power generation. The project is situated within the Qingdao Refining and Chemical Hydrogen Energy “Production-Research-Plus” Demonstration Park and features advantages such as zero emissions, high efficiency, and low cost. It covers approximately 60,000 square meters with an installed capacity of 7.5 MW. The project adopts an innovative floating PV structure, allowing PV panels to rise and fall with the tides, reducing the gap between the panels and the water surface to about one-tenth that of traditional pile-based structures. It maximizes the cooling effect of seawater, improving power generation efficiency by 5%–8%.
Three innovations address the challenges of seawater PV industrial applications. In fully seawater environments, PV systems face issues such as seawater corrosion, biofouling, and tidal fluctuations. To tackle these challenges, the R&D team collaborated with leading domestic material research and float production enterprises to achieve three key innovations: the development of special floats and brackets resistant to salt spray corrosion and barnacle attachment; the design of an underwater anchoring system capable of withstanding Category 13 typhoons and adapting to a 3.5-meter tidal range, reducing investment by approximately 10% compared to traditional pile-based PV; and the installation of panel and cable inspection passages close to the water surface, which significantly enhances operation and maintenance safety and reduces costs compared with traditional pile-based PV. These technological breakthroughs provide standardized solutions for PV development in coastal and shallow sea areas and promote cost reductions in new energy projects.
Supporting high-quality integrated development of hydrogen and PV. Previously, Qingdao Refining and Chemical had built the nation’s first “carbon-neutral” hydrogen refueling station and China’s first factory-scale seawater electrolysis hydrogen production project. The full completion and commissioning of the water surface PV project opens the most critical link in Qingdao Refining and Chemical’s new energy industrial chain, forming a new energy layout of “PV-generated green electricity and green electricity-produced green hydrogen.” This supports high-quality integration between hydrogen and PV and lays the resource foundation for green hydrogen refining and green hydrogen transportation. Next, Qingdao Refining and Chemical will leverage its new energy industry advantages to further expand and build an additional 23 MW floating PV project, strengthening its green energy supply capacity.
In recent years, Sinopec has accelerated the construction of a clean and low-carbon energy supply system to foster new growth drivers for high-quality development. The company is vigorously implementing its green and clean development strategy, adhering to ecological priority, green transformation, and clean development. It is comprehensively advancing the clean development of fossil energy, the large-scale development of clean energy, and the low-carbon transformation of production processes. Sinopec has launched the “10,000 Stations Bathed in Light” initiative, planning to build approximately 10,000 PV-powered sites by 2027 to promote deep integration between new and traditional energy industries. It continues to deepen its geothermal energy efforts, with geothermal heating capacity reaching 120 million square meters, making it China’s largest geothermal energy developer and operator. Focusing on hydrogen-powered transportation and green hydrogen refining, Sinopec is rapidly building a full hydrogen energy industry chain, having completed and commissioned the country’s first 10,000-ton photovoltaic green hydrogen demonstration project and established 144 hydrogen refueling stations, making it the company with the most hydrogen stations in operation globally. In 2024, Sinopec’s new energy supply totaled the equivalent of over 5.8 million tonnes of standard coal, promoting the coordinated development of traditional oil and gas with new energy businesses.