Sinopec Builds 146 Hydrogen Refueling Stations, Ranking Among the World’s Largest Operators

Sinopec has achieved a major breakthrough in hydrogen mobility with the successful completion of a 1,500-kilometer hydrogen-powered journey along the Yangtze River Hydrogen Corridor.

Three hydrogen-powered logistics vehicles of different models departed from Sinopec’s Qingwei Integrated Energy Station in Qingpu District, Shanghai. Traveling along the Yangtze River, they passed through Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, and Hubei, and finally arrived at the Zhijiang South Service Area in Yichang, Hubei.

Along the route, the vehicles refueled at six Sinopec hydrogen stations, demonstrating the reliability and advancement of the company’s hydrogen infrastructure. This marks another significant achievement for Sinopec in long-distance, cross-regional hydrogen logistics development.

This milestone builds upon Sinopec’s earlier hydrogen corridor initiatives, including the Beijing–Shanghai and the Western Land–Sea Corridors. To date, the company has established multiple intercity hydrogen corridors, enhancing connectivity between major urban clusters.

Leveraging the Yangtze River Hydrogen Corridor, Sinopec has linked the Shanghai–Jiaxing–Ningbo and Wuhan–Yichang hydrogen corridors, thereby creating a hydrogen transport network that spans across eastern and western China. Plans are underway to extend this route to the Chengdu–Chongqing Hydrogen Corridor, ultimately forming a full-length hydrogen axis along the Yangtze River to support wider deployment of hydrogen-powered vehicles in the region.

Sinopec has also built strong capabilities in hydrogen production, with an annual hydrogen output of 4.45 million tons. On the research front, Sinopec Qingdao Refining & Chemical has launched China’s first pilot project for industrialized seawater-to-hydrogen production, while Zhongyuan Oilfield has demonstrated the country’s first 100-kilowatt solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) hydrogen production unit.

In green hydrogen refining, the company is advancing several large-scale projects: one is a 30,000-ton-per-year integrated wind and solar green hydrogen project in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, where the hydrogen output will support the low-carbon transformation of coal chemical operations; another is a 100,000-ton-per-year wind–solar green hydrogen project in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, which will also underpin China’s first cross-provincial, large-scale, long-distance pure hydrogen transmission pipeline.

At present, Sinopec operates 146 hydrogen refueling stations and 11 hydrogen supply centers, covering the country’s “3+2” pilot city clusters for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. This makes the company the world’s largest hydrogen refueling station operator and places it at the forefront of global hydrogen infrastructure development.