五城市群启动氢能综合应用试点 氢能加速向工业领域延伸Five urban clusters launch comprehensive hydrogen energy application pilot programs, accelerating hydrogen energy's extension into the industrial sector

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Development and Reform Commission officially approved the launch of hydrogen energy comprehensive application pilot programs in five urban agglomerations: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Greater Bay Area, Northeast China (including Eastern Inner Mongolia)–Yangtze River Delta, Xinjiang–Chengdu-Chongqing region twin-city economic circle, and the Yellow River bends–Central Plains. The pilot programs will last for four years. This move accelerates the commercialization of hydrogen energy in China, marking the country's hydrogen industry’s transition from "breakthroughs in fuel cell vehicles at isolated points" to a new phase of "large-scale applications across multiple scenarios." The large-scale adoption of hydrogen energy is expanding from the previously relatively concentrated transportation sector to the larger demand market of industrial hydrogen use.

Wang Jia, Technical Director of the China Automotive Strategy & Policy Research Center, stated that the reason for selecting these five urban agglomerations as pilots is essentially to promote hydrogen energy beyond its single-use application in vehicles, thereby entering the core areas of industrial energy savings and carbon reduction, truly achieving a leap from "demonstration-first" to "large-scale application."

It is reported that these five major city clusters present a '2+3' development pattern: the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Greater Bay Area focus on hydrogen energy transportation application demonstrations, with an emphasis on promoting fuel cell vehicles and planning and constructing hydrogen highways and hydrogen corridors; the Northeast (including eastern Inner Mongolia)–Yangtze River Delta, Xinjiang–Chengdu-Chongqing Twin City Economic Circle, and the Yellow River Bend–Central Plains city clusters focus on industrial application demonstration and promotion, with a priority on advancing industrial applications such as green ammonia, hydrogen-based chemical raw material substitution, hydrogen metallurgy, and hydrogen-blended combustion. Wei Suo, vice president of the China Industrial Development Promotion Association and chairman of the Hydrogen Energy Committee, believes that the formation of this '2+3' pattern is the result of the national strategic positioning of hydrogen energy becoming increasingly concrete as industry practice deepens. During the '14th Five-Year Plan' period, China has achieved a breakthrough in hydrogen energy 'from 0 to 1,' entering a critical stage of rapid scaling and crossing the technology-economic inflection point. According to statistics, by August 2026, China’s cumulative sales of fuel cell vehicles have exceeded 40,000 units, and more than 620 hydrogen refueling stations have been built, ranking first in the world.

Entering the 15th Five-Year Plan period, reaching peak carbon emissions has entered a critical stage, and deep decarbonization of industry has become a rigid requirement. Hydrogen energy application scenarios are expanding from transportation to diverse areas such as industry. In March of this year, three departments jointly issued the "Notice on Carrying Out Comprehensive Hydrogen Energy Application Pilot Work," clearly aiming to build a '1 N X' comprehensive hydrogen energy application ecosystem. Lu Chenyu, Secretary-General of the Zhongguancun Hydrogen Energy Industry Alliance, stated that '1' continues the previous round of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, while 'N' (green ammonia, replacement of hydrogen-based chemical raw materials, hydrogen metallurgy, hydrogen-blended combustion) is the main battlefield for this round of hydrogen energy consumption. These four industrial areas will be the directions with the highest proportion of hydrogen energy utilization in the future.

From the port to the factory, hydrogen energy applications are 'blossoming in multiple locations.' At Tianjin's first commercial integrated energy station—the Rongcheng New Energy Hydrogen Refueling Station—hydrogen heavy trucks are refueled in an orderly manner, taking only 20 minutes to fill up. Its transport route is the 'Tianjin Port—Handan—Changzhi—Rongcheng' zero-carbon bidirectional hydrogen transport corridor, using hydrogen heavy trucks to carry iron ore from Tianjin Port to Wuan, Handan, Hebei, a major steel production area, and then loading coke from Changzhi back to the Rongcheng steel plant, creating a new model of zero-carbon road logistics among multiple locations including Tianjin, Hebei, and Shanxi. Tian Jianguang, Assistant General Manager of Rongcheng New Energy, introduced that the station refuels over two tons of hydrogen daily, and by increasing refueling scale, it spreads out fixed investments and achieves project economic balance; if the entire chain cannot coordinate and link together, a single project is difficult to sustain profitability.

In Sichuan, Boneng Gas has completed the country's largest urban gas hydrogen blending demonstration project in operation, achieving the province's first 5% hydrogen blending; on the streets and alleys, 15,000 'hydrogen scooters' have been put into operation, ranking first in the country, with zero emissions and pollution, and a range of up to 100 kilometers. In addition, green ammonia projects in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia; Da'an and Songyuan, Jilin; have been gradually put into operation, the integrated green hydrogen and coal chemical project in Duolun, Inner Mongolia has been established, and hydrogen metallurgy projects in Zhanjiang, Guangdong; Zhangjiakou, Hebei; and Yingkou, Liaoning have also been fully connected.

With the approval of pilot city clusters, China's hydrogen energy industry has taken an important step toward broader and deeper applications. In the future, this cross-regional, multi-scenario, full-chain pilot will reshape China's hydrogen energy industry in terms of industrial structure, technological iteration, and business logic. Lu Chenyu stated that the most core issue for enterprises moving forward is cost reduction, which not only involves lowering hydrogen prices but also gradually reducing equipment costs. Currently, the prices of hydrogen fuel cells continue to decline, with several companies’ fuel cell stack prices dropping below 1,000 yuan, and the latest tender prices for key equipment in electrolyzer systems have fallen to 3 to 4 million yuan. Wang Jia believes that the pilot has set strict performance evaluation and exit mechanisms, with central funds following progress and performance. Successfully running their own business logic within the four-year window is key to whether the "15th Five-Year Plan" can gain a firm footing.

[Source: China Energy News]

[Editor: Xiao Neng]