China's first hydrogen fuel production station using methanol to power the process began operating recently in the Dalian Area of China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

Covering an area of only 64 square meters, the integrated station boasts a daily output capacity of 1,000 kilograms of virtually pure (99.9 percent) hydrogen. It can also reduce costs by more than 20 percent for storage and transportation.

"This is the result of the effective combination of Sinopec's industry-university-research integration advantage and the pioneering pilot system innovation advantage of the Dalian FTZ," said Sun Shiwei, head of the zone's economic development bureau.

Sun said the station uses China's first distributed methanol hydrogen production system, — which was independently developed by Sinopec, including a number of innovation achievements — and is expected to be easily replicated and scaled up.

In recent years, the Dalian FTZ has been developing its hydrogen energy industry, including hydrogen production and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.