In France, within the context of its project to build two low-carbon hydrogen production units and related infrastructure in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP), Shanghai Chemical Industry Park Industrial Gases Co., Ltd (SCIPIG), a subsidiary of Air Liquide, signed a bilateral green loan for 500 million RMB (around 67 million euros) with BNP Paribas as the sole lending bank. This green loan follows the China-EU Common Ground Taxonomy, with stringent criteria on hydrogen production and an emission threshold for the definition of low-carbon hydrogen. It is as well aligned with the international Green Loan Principles 2021 and the Equator Principles (2020). It has received a Second Party Opinion from the independent expert DNV.
It is the first green loan worldwide to support low-carbon hydrogen production in alignment with the new China-EU Common Ground Taxonomy. SCIPIG will monitor the environmental benefits of this project on a regular basis and will report annually to the lender on selected indicators, including the annual avoided greenhouse gases emissions and the hydrogen annual production volume. As they will replace a third party coal-based gasification unit, the new units will avoid the emission of 350,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to the electricity related emissions of 1 million Chinese households.
