China's hydrogen industry development ushered in a window period

"Hydrogen energy could be a 10 trillion yuan industry in the future." Ouyang Minggao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said recently at the 2023 World Hydrogen Technology Conference that the development of hydrogen energy technology in China has achieved local breakthroughs, showing phased progress.

Hydrogen energy is a kind of secondary energy with abundant sources, green and low carbon, and is gradually becoming one of the important carriers of global energy transformation and development. At present, the development of China's hydrogen industry has ushered in a window period.

A number of industrial clusters have emerged

North, Shandong. The country's first high-speed hydrogenation station and the first port hydrogenation station have been built, 25 hydrogenation stations have a daily hydrogen supply capacity of more than 20 tons, and the total number of fuel cell vehicles has exceeded 1,000. The "hydrogen into 10,000" science and technology demonstration project is progressing rapidly, and the overall goal of the demonstration project will be to build a hydrogen energy highway, 2 hydrogen energy ports, 3 science popularization bases, 4 hydrogen energy parks, 5 hydrogen energy communities, etc.

Nanhai District of Foshan City, located in the hinterland of the Pearl River Delta in the south, has gathered more than 150 hydrogen energy enterprises and institutions, covering the whole hydrogen energy industry chain, forming an industrial cluster with an investment scale of more than 60 billion yuan.

"Demonstration application projects promote the construction of industrial systems." Chen Wenmiao, chief scientist of the National Fuel Cell Technology Innovation Center, said that through demonstration projects like "hydrogen into 10,000", gradually expand the application field of hydrogen energy, expand the use scenario, increase the use of hydrogen, and eventually reduce the cost.

In the face of the booming development of the hydrogen energy industry, China has continued to promote the comprehensive application of hydrogen energy in transportation, construction, energy storage and other fields through five demonstration city clusters and a number of demonstration projects such as "hydrogen into 10,000", driving the coordinated development of the whole industrial chain of hydrogen energy production, storage, transport and use, and also promoting the regional optimization layout.

According to industry experts, China's vehicle proton exchange membrane, fuel cell system integration has made a major breakthrough, the relevant industry chain has been established; The high-power fuel cell system for heavy trucks has become a high-tech highlight of hydrogen energy products, with the international leading level; A relatively complete hydrogen energy and fuel cell technology chain and industrial chain have been built, and the competitiveness of fuel cell vehicle products has also been significantly enhanced, and major performance indicators such as hydrogen consumption, duration mileage, and startup of commercial vehicles have been continuously optimized.

As of the end of April, the cumulative promotion of hydrogen fuel cells in China was close to 14,000 vehicles, including more than 13,000 commercial vehicles, the promotion scale of commercial vehicles is leading in the world, and it has realized the coverage of heavy operations such as ports, mines, sanitation, urban construction, public transportation, intercity logistics and remote bulk commodity transportation.

Hydrogenation infrastructure construction is developing rapidly. At present, more than 350 hydrogen refueling stations have been built in China, ranking first in the world.

"China's hydrogen industry is showing broad prospects for development." Xu Niansha, president of the China Machinery Industry Federation, said that construction in the fields of petrochemical, coal chemical, hydrogen smelting and hydrogen energy storage has been accelerating. A number of hydrogen energy industrial clusters are emerging, the application field is in the ascends, and the industrial chain, supply chain, and innovation chain are constantly improving.

Li Guohui, deputy general manager of China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau Engineering Co., LTD., showed a map of the future planning of the national hydrogen energy backbone network of "West hydrogen transmission to East". "By 2050, basically all hydrogen will be transported through pipelines, and we have built a northern hydrogen energy network connecting many places with three branches, a total length of 5,000 to 6,000 kilometers; The plan also covers the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Sichuan and Chongqing regions."

Storage and transportation remains a weak link

Ningxia, a natural gas hydrogen blending carbon reduction project pilot project base. Researchers are busy analyzing the stratification of hydrogen-doped natural gas pipelines and testing different proportions of blending.

Nearly a thousand miles away in Henan, from Jiyuan to Luoyang, there is a 25-kilometer long pure hydrogen transmission pipeline, which is the hydrogen pipeline with the largest diameter, highest pressure and highest throughput that has been built in China, and has been in operation for 8 years.