聚焦“1144” 风光氢储，包头起势成链Focusing on '1144' wind and solar hydrogen storage, Baotou is starting to form a chain

On the autumn Da Mao Grassland, giant wind turbine blades spin in the wind, and solar panels stretch out under the sunlight. In the control room of Inner Mongolia Huadian Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd., the numbers flashing on the screens record the birth of yet another batch of green hydrogen. Every cubic meter of hydrogen produced here comes from the wind and sunlight of the grasslands.

"The project does not use grid electricity at any stage; all hydrogen is produced using green electricity," said Xiao Yongjian, a member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Inner Mongolia Huadian Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd., pointing at the central control screen. This is a 200,000-kilowatt wind-solar hydrogen production demonstration project, with a total wind-solar supporting capacity of 200,000 kilowatts, including 120,000 kilowatts of wind power and 80,000 kilowatts of solar power, designed to produce 7,800 tons of green hydrogen annually. In December 2023, the company produced 99.999% high-purity hydrogen for the first time, becoming the first enterprise among Inner Mongolia's initial hydrogen production demonstration projects to produce high-purity hydrogen.

In November 2024, the company successfully achieved the co-firing of natural gas with green hydrogen, setting three domestic records in the field of green hydrogen: it became the earliest in the country to achieve industrial natural gas co-firing with green hydrogen and apply it to industrial energy supply, achieved the highest co-firing ratio of industrial natural gas and green hydrogen, and developed the largest scale of green hydrogen co-firing with natural gas at 2,000 tons per year. Currently, hydrogen is mainly used as a raw material and fuel, and multiple application scenarios have been implemented.

The development of Huadian Hydrogen Energy is a microcosm of the accelerated rise of the hydrogen energy industry in Baotou. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, Baotou has seized the opportunity of renewable energy development, leveraging advantages such as abundant wind and solar resources, a solid industrial foundation, and extensive application scenarios, positioning the hydrogen energy industry as a key lever for building the '1144' modern industrial system, and promoting the full-chain development of hydrogen energy in 'production, storage, transportation, and utilization.'

On the hydrogen production side, Huadian is leading the continuous expansion of green hydrogen supply. The 200,000-kilowatt wind-solar hydrogen production demonstration project in Damau Banner has been stably operating for more than two years. Relying on complementary wind and solar configurations, the project can operate stably all day except during extreme weather, addressing the limitation of purely solar hydrogen production projects that can only produce hydrogen during the daytime. At the same time, several large-scale hydrogen production projects such as Huadian's one-million-kilowatt wind-solar hydrogen production project are also accelerating construction, continuously expanding the scale of green hydrogen supply.

On the storage and transportation side, the long-distance hydrogen pipeline project from the Baiyun-Obo mining area to Baotou City is about to be put into operation. As a hydrogen transport pipeline connecting the northern and southern regions of the mountains, this project is one of the first hydrogen pilot projects in the energy sector approved by the National Energy Administration. It belongs to the main and branch lines of the green hydrogen transportation network in Inner Mongolia's 'One Trunk, Two Rings, Four Exits' plan. The pipeline starts from the first station in Barun Industrial Park and ends at the last station in Kundulun District, with a total length of about 195 kilometers, a design pressure of 6.3 MPa, an approved annual hydrogen transmission capacity of 100,000 tons, and a long-term capacity of up to 240,000 tons. After commissioning, it will further enhance the continuous, stable, and large-scale supply of green hydrogen. The Tuo'er Banner Integrated Energy Station has been put into operation, and with multiple hydrogen refueling skid stations, the city's daily hydrogen refueling capacity reaches 11.6 tons.

On the application side, green hydrogen application scenarios across the city are accelerating and becoming increasingly diverse. In the transportation sector, more than 160 hydrogen-powered heavy trucks and over 2,000 rare-earth solid-state hydrogen storage two-wheelers have been put into operation. Among them, the core achievement of the “challenger-led” project led by Beiben Heavy Duty Truck Co., Ltd.—a 49-ton, 300-kilowatt hydrogen fuel electric tractor—has entered mass production and market sales. In the industrial sector, Jin-E-Bo has completed a 20% natural gas-hydrogen blending demonstration and is simultaneously promoting demonstrations in chemical, hydrogen-based fuels, and hydrogen metallurgy. From hydrogen production and storage to application, Baotou’s “wind, solar, hydrogen, storage, vehicle” industry chain is accelerating its integration.

The rapid growth of the industry cannot happen without strong policy support. “Green hydrogen is less economical compared to gray hydrogen, so we subsidize hydrogen production through electricity revenue using renewable energy quotas, which is essentially 'subsidizing hydrogen with electricity,'” said an official from the Baotou Development and Reform Commission. From 2025 to 2027, all green hydrogen production projects in the city can enjoy 40% grid-connected electricity quotas, and after 2027, they can enjoy 20% grid-connected electricity quotas, using electricity revenue to subsidize hydrogen production costs and enhance enterprise investment confidence.

Relying on a full-chain layout, Baotou has successively been recognized as a national pilot region for the full-chain development of hydrogen energy in the energy sector and a national pilot for comprehensive hydrogen energy application. "The next step is to expand the scale of hydrogen use and broaden the application scenarios," said a relevant official from the Baotou Municipal Development and Reform Commission. Moving forward, the focus will be on developing the green hydrogen application market in areas such as transportation, natural gas blending, chemical industry, and metallurgy, supporting enterprises to increase the scale of hydrogen usage, and reducing the cost of green hydrogen production through economy of scale, while further lowering hydrogen production costs relying on nationwide technological progress. The goal is to fully build the country's first fully scenario green hydrogen self-circulating innovative city and form a replicable and promotable hydrogen energy development "Baotou Model."

[Source: Baotou Daily]

[Editor: Xiao Neng]