In July, nearly four tons of green ammonia produced in Northeast China’s Jilin province were shipped to the Republic of Korea. The milestone delivery marks a shift for China’s wind-solar-hydrogen-ammonia industrial chain from technical trials to large-scale international commercial supply.

What is green ammonia? It starts with wind and solar power, which generate clean electricity to produce green hydrogen. That hydrogen is then converted into zero-carbon green ammonia. Backed by the internationally recognized ISCC EU certification, products from the Jilin Da'an project can now obtain certification and be supplied to global markets.

"Only with this certification can our green ammonia enter the European market, and EU market access serves as a credential for entry into the global market. In the future, shipping companies will face exorbitant fines if they skip low-carbon transformation, underscoring the urgency of green energy adoption." Said Jia Yurong, the deputy director of Hydrogen R&D Center, SPIC Green Energy.

Wind and solar electricity cannot be shipped cross-border practically, and green hydrogen entails extremely high transportation costs due to its physical properties. That is why Chinese engineers choose to convert renewable power into green ammonia for export. Moreover, wind and solar power are intermittent, while green hydrogen faces major storage and shipping hurdles. That's exactly where green ammonia steps in — turning volatile renewable power into easy‑to‑transport zero‑carbon fuel.

"There was no prior precedent for pairing fluctuating wind and solar power with stable chemical production facilities," Song Shulin, director of the Qingzhou Da’an green ammonia project at SPIC Green Energy, told CGTN. "We faced major uncertainties over operational safety and project profitability. In the early stage of the project, we conducted multiple rounds of in-depth analysis and demonstrations with research institutes, power grid companies and government authorities."

Da’an City in Jilin Province is home to State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC)’s large-scale green ammonia project, thanks to the region’s unique natural endowments, policy backing and market potential.

Located on the Songnen Plain in western Jilin, Da'an boasts abundant wind and solar resources, vast saline‑alkali land suitable for renewable energy development, and stable water access from the Nen River for water electrolysis. Local curtailment risks for wind and solar power are addressed by converting intermittent green electricity into storable green hydrogen and green ammonia on‑site.

Green ammonia is expected to play a vital role in the future energy market. The Da'an project provides a scalable and replicable Chinese model for advancing the global green and low-carbon energy transition.

"Wind and solar power generation is intermittent, leading to fluctuating hydrogen production in electrolyzers and unstable waste heat output. We are in urgent need of developing equipment that can fully utilize such variable heat sources to further save energy and reduce emissions," Song Shulin added when speaking to CGTN.