In the workshop of Beijing Yihuatong Technology Co., Ltd., workers are assembling hydrogen engines. Information photo
With the implementation of the "double carbon" strategy, the development of China’s hydrogen energy industry has entered the "fast lane", and the transportation field represented by fuel cell vehicles has become an important breakthrough. The reporter of Economic Information Daily recently learned that the construction of five demonstration urban agglomerations of fuel cell vehicles in China has been accelerated, the core technologies have been continuously broken, and the hydrogen energy industry chain has been gradually improved. Under a series of favorable conditions, the delivery and commissioning of domestic fuel cell vehicles ushered in an intensive period. However, it is worth noting that the hydrogen energy industry is still in its infancy, and it is necessary to make efforts in infrastructure construction and other aspects.
Fuel cell vehicles are intensively put into operation
Every day, a number of special "green brand cars" will be ushered in at Shanghai Petroleum Qingwei Oil-Hydrogen Co-construction Station, which is the first batch of fuel cell network cars in China that have been put into operation recently. At present, there are only 80 vehicles in this batch, which operate around Hongqiao Airport and are expected to increase to 200 by the end of the year.
This is a microcosm of the accelerated application of hydrogen energy in China. In August, 2021, the five ministries and commissions jointly issued the Notice on Launching the Demonstration and Application of Fuel Cell Vehicles, and agreed to start the demonstration and application of fuel cell vehicles in urban agglomerations submitted by Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong. In December 2021, demonstration urban agglomerations of fuel cell vehicles in Henan and Hebei were successively approved, and a "3+2" fuel cell vehicle demonstration pattern was formed nationwide.
As the leading city of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei fuel cell vehicle demonstration city group, the starting area of Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone built by Beijing was completed and put into operation in March this year. At present, the first phase of the Southern District project has also started construction, and it is expected to be completed within this year, expanding the testing, workshop and office space of the park. The second and third phases of the demonstration area are being planned and designed simultaneously to provide space guarantee for the subsequent projects.
"We have built a perfect ecological chain for the hydrogen energy industry from special policies, industrial alliances, third-party testing and certification platforms, and standard formulation." Ren Juanjuan, deputy director of Beijing Daxing District Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, said that at present, there are more than 1,000 fuel cell vehicles promoted in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration as a whole, and nearly 600 vehicles have been promoted in Daxing District, covering various application scenarios such as tourist buses, sweepers and heavy trucks.
According to the Fuel Cell Vehicle Database released by GGII, from August 2021 to August 2022, that is, the first year of the national fuel cell vehicle demonstration city group, the cumulative sales of fuel cell vehicles in the five demonstration groups were 2590.
According to the report of Chuancai Securities, under the background of the steady advancement of local policies, the delivery and commissioning of domestic fuel cell vehicles ushered in an intensive period. In the third quarter of 2022, a total of 1,346 fuel cell vehicles were delivered, of which more than 1,000 were put into use in five demonstration urban agglomerations. As a mature field of hydrogen energy application at present, the industrial effect of vehicle is gradually emerging.
According to the data of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the production and sales of fuel cell vehicles also continued to grow at a high speed. In September 2022, the production and sales of fuel cell vehicles were 183 and 202 respectively, up by 18.1% and 16.8% respectively. From January to September, the production and sales of fuel cell vehicles all reached 2,000 units, up 1.7 times and 1.3 times respectively.
nucleusHeart technology accelerates breakthrough
In addition to policy support, accelerating the breakthrough of core technologies is one of the important supports for accelerating the demonstration operation of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
On the north side of Beijing Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone, in the production workshop of Beijing Yihuatong Technology Co., Ltd., on the production line with an annual output of 3,000 hydrogen energy engines, several workers are assembling precision parts, and monitoring the torque and angle in real time through intelligent electric tightening guns in their hands to avoid rework. On the next channel, countless small QR codes are marked on the ground, and robots shuttle back and forth. They can accurately deliver parts to the door through navigation and positioning technologies such as laser and vision.
"At present, we have formed a comprehensive integrated hydrogen energy industry solution with fuel cell system as the core, and the power of hydrogen energy engine products independently developed and produced covers 30 kW to 240 kW." Bao Jianpeng, deputy director of the production department of Beijing Yihuatong Technology Co., Ltd. said.
Another domestic hydrogen engine R&D and manufacturing enterprise in the park — — Beijing Wenli Technology Co., Ltd. has also built a series of fuel cell products and their core components through independent research and development, which are not only used in commercial vehicles and construction machinery vehicles, but also extended to non-vehicle fields such as mobile power supply and distributed power stations.
"Our fuel cell engine technology is relatively mature, and the planned production capacity is 2,000 sets per year, while the air compressor can currently reach the production capacity of 20,000 sets." Zuo Linlin, deputy general manager of Beijing Wenli Technology Co., Ltd., said in an interview with the Economic Information Daily.
It is understood that there are currently 139 enterprises registered in Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone, initially forming a perfect hydrogen energy industry system. "The eight core component technologies of hydrogen fuel cells have basically achieved domestic autonomy and are still being iteratively upgraded." Ren Juanjuan revealed.
Business people including Zuo Linlin have also felt this change in practice. In the early years, most of the key components and materials of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were imported from abroad. Now, except for some products such as power semiconductors, the parts purchased by the company have basically been localized, the supply speed has been further accelerated, and the cost of key raw materials has continued to decline.
Advanced layout of infrastructure
As a key part of the hydrogen energy industry chain, the role of infrastructure construction can not be ignored.
Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone has the largest daily hydrogenation station in the world, with 8 hydrogenation machines and 16 hydrogenation guns, with a daily hydrogenation capacity of 4.8 tons, and about hundreds of hydrogen energy vehicles come here for hydrogenation every day. Hydrogen from the hydrogen refueling station can also be directly transported to the hydrogen-related testing center with an area of 1,500 square meters through pipelines.
According to the data of the National Energy Administration, by the end of June, more than 270 hydrogen refueling stations had been built in China, accounting for about 40% of the global total, ranking first in the world.
However, compared with the promotion of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the guarantee of hydrogen energy replenishment is still insufficient. "At present, our main limitation is infrastructure. If the hydrogen refueling station can keep up, the fuel cell will usher in an explosive growth." Zuo Linlin said.
The reporter noted that at present, many places have issued plans to support the development of hydrogen energy industry, and infrastructure construction is one of the key points. For example, at a recent press conference, Tang Wenkan, deputy director of the Shanghai Economic Information Commission, revealed that a special plan for hydrogen refueling stations will be introduced, and the layout will be moderately advanced. In 2025, more than 70 hydrogen refueling stations of various types will be built and put into use to achieve full coverage of key application areas.
During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period in Guangdong Province, 300 hydrogen refueling stations were built, including over 200 demonstration urban agglomerations. The financial subsidies for the construction of hydrogen refueling stations at all levels can reach up to 5 million yuan. Beijing will give 5 million yuan and 2 million yuan of fixed construction subsidies to hydrogen refueling stations built (including reconstruction and expansion) within the administrative area according to the rated working capacity of compressors of not less than 1000 kg and 500 kg in 12 hours respectively.
Insiders pointed out that the hydrogen energy industry is still in its infancy, and the problems restricting development such as technology, cost and infrastructure are gradually improving, but it is expected that a major breakthrough will be achieved after 2025. The report released by Kang Yong, chief economist of KPMG China, shows that hydrogen energy is expected to take the lead in commercialization in the transportation field; Green hydrogen production, localization of key materials of hydrogen fuel cells and equipment of hydrogen refueling stations will become hot tracks in the hydrogen energy industry; The regional industrial layout of hydrogen energy has been rapidly formed.