从35万吨到200万吨 中国氢能产业进入5年关键培育期From 350,000 tons to 2 million tons, China's hydrogen energy industry enters a crucial five-year cultivation period

The next five years will be a crucial incubation period for China's hydrogen industry to move from pilot demonstrations to large-scale, market-oriented development. On November 5, at the 9th Hongqiao International Economic Forum's sub-forum 'Promoting Global Energy Transition through High-Quality Hydrogen Development,' Song Hongkun, Deputy Director of the National Energy Administration, made this assessment.

Song Hongkun stated that so far, China's installed capacity for hydrogen production from renewable energy has exceeded 350,000 tons per year. According to the '15th Five-Year Plan for the Construction of a New Energy System,' this number is expected to reach 2 million tons by 2030, which means that China's renewable hydrogen production will need nearly sixfold rapid growth in the coming years.

By the end of 2025, 66 countries and regions worldwide had released hydrogen development strategies. In 2025, the global hydrogen production and consumption scale is expected to be about 109 million tons, with cumulative operational capacity of renewable energy-based hydrogen production reaching approximately 500,000 tons per year. China's cumulative operational capacity of renewable energy-based hydrogen projects exceeds 250,000 tons per year, achieving a doubling compared to the previous year, with China's capacity accounting for more than 50% of the global total. As of the end of September, China's installed capacity of renewable energy power generation reached 2.52 billion kilowatts, accounting for 60.9% of the country's total power installation, of which solar power installation reached 1.31 billion kilowatts, surpassing coal power to become the largest power source category in terms of installed capacity.

Looking at the entire chain of 'production, storage, transportation, and use,' in terms of storage and transportation, the national plan includes more than 20 long-distance pure hydrogen pipelines with a total length of over 5,500 kilometers, of which more than 350 kilometers have been completed and put into operation; nationwide, more than 600 hydrogen refueling stations have been built, and six ports including Shanghai, Tianjin, and Dalian have the capability to supply green ammonia or green methanol. As of September 2026, over 640 hydrogen energy policies have been issued across the country. Academician Zheng Nanfeng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences cited data stating that by 2025, China's annual hydrogen production exceeds 39 million tons, and China accounts for nearly 70% of the global electrolyzer manufacturing capacity.

Bian Guangqi summarizes the challenges into four aspects: economic bottlenecks, technical level, infrastructure, and standards and market mechanisms. Academician Huang Weihe of the Chinese Academy of Engineering pointed out that the cost of green hydrogen is 2 to 3 times that of gray hydrogen, and 'there is not much storage and transportation is limited,' meaning there is a serious 'temporal and spatial mismatch' in China's green hydrogen production and consumption. The next steps will promote large-scale and market-oriented development from seven aspects: policy, scenarios, infrastructure, technological equipment, and market.

[Source: Yicai Global]