China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s first megawatt-class PEM electrolyzer for hydrogen production has been successfully put into operation

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Recently, CNOOC (Shanxi) Precious Metals Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as CNOOC Precious Metals) announced that China’s first megawatt-class proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis hydrogen production facility, developed by the company, has been built and put into operation in Jinzhong, Shanxi. It marks the successful implementation of Shanxi Province’s first 100-megawatt-class PEM hydrogen production demonstration project, and it further demonstrates China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s significant breakthroughs in breaking through barriers and achieving autonomy in the field of core technologies and equipment for green hydrogen. This has injected strong momentum into China’s pursuit of a green and low-carbon transition in marine energy as well as the development of a new type of energy system. It is reported that this device uses self-developed oxygen evolution and hydrogen evolution catalysts, and its key performance indicators are at the leading level in the industry. After 50 hours of continuous and stable operation, actual measurements showed that the iridium loading on the anode dropped significantly to 0.8 mg/cm², while the platinum loading on the cathode fell to 0.3 mg/cm². This reduced reliance on precious metals while maintaining high performance, exceeding conventional levels in China. The device has a rated power of 1 megawatt, with hydrogen purity reaching 99.999%; its energy consumption per unit of hydrogen produced is as low as 4.3 kWh/Nm³, placing it in the top tier of the industry.