Rosatom structure and China's CEEC plan to start exporting low-carbon hydrogen from Sakhalin to China in 2025

VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 6 (Interfax) - JSC Rusatom Overseas (RAOS), part of Rosatom state nuclear energy corporation, and China's CEEC plan to start exporting low-carbon hydrogen from Sakhalin to China in 2025, Rosatom said in a statement following the signing of the corresponding memorandum.

"The parties will consider the possibility of jointly implementing the project as part of cooperating, including organizing exports of low-carbon hydrogen from Sakhalin Island to China as early as 2025," Rosatom said.

There are plans to start constructing the plant next year, Yevgeny Pakermanov, president of Rusatom Overseas , was quoted as saying in the statement. "We are considering the scenario of shipping hydrogen in liquefied form via tank containers to China," he said.

Rusatom Overseas; France's Air Liquide, a leading producer of commercial gases; and the Sakhalin Region government in the spring of 2021 signed a memorandum of understanding to study the possibility of building a complex at Sakhalin in order to produce up to 100,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year, as previously reported. The parties completed the project feasibility study in February this year.

Air Liquide last week announced that it was exiting its Russian projects and ceasing operations in Russia: "Taking a responsible and balanced approach, the group has signed a memorandum of understanding with local management to change its activities in Russia by transferring operations to them via a management buy-out," Air Liquide said, noting that Russian regulators must approve the decision.

Rosatom at the time noted that the agreement between the parties had expired. The state corporation abandoned "the concept of a single supplier," the company said. "Today, we continue to implement the project on our own with the participation of a number of Russian and foreign partners," Rosatom said.

Low-carbon hydrogen from the Sakhalin project could be in demand in the Asia-Pacific countries. Supplies have been discussed with partners from Japan and Korea, set to begin in 2025, Pakermanov previously said.

Rosatom overall is considering about ten pilot projects in the area of hydrogen energy. Rusatom Overseas vice president Anton Moskvin in January noted that the company was currently developing the projects. Moskvin said that the company was working on research in the area of transportation and production of large volumes of hydrogen, as well as with metals enterprises.