Hydrogen received only a one-line mention in China’s official blueprint for economic development this year, but there has still been plenty of discussion in Beijing over how the fuel can be promoted more widely.

China held its week-long annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)—its parliament and top political advisory body respectively—over 4-11 March. Known as the ‘two sessions’, the gatherings are the biggest events on China’s calendar and set the economic policy direction and political agenda for the year.

In a report released on the opening day of the NPC, China’s powerful economic planning agency the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) named hydrogen as a strategic emerging industry to focus on this year alongside the likes of biotechnology, aviation and aerospace, and new energy.

“We will… make steady and prudent progress in developing hydrogen power industries,” the NDRC report says.

“We will… make steady and prudent progress in developing hydrogen power industries” NDRC

Hydrogen has been included in top-level policy documents issued from the two sessions in recent years. It was mentioned in the central government’s annual work report for the first time in 2019 and appeared last year in an outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan, which covers China’s economic and social development over 2021-25.

Lawmakers and political advisers at the two sessions can propose suggestions for Beijing to consider. Among the proposals concerning hydrogen this year were official guidance for the zero-emission energy, fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) demonstration city clusters, and the construction and application of a national industry chain.

Delegates suggested strengthening the top-level design of and publishing a special plan for hydrogen energy development to clarify the industry’s main tasks, goals and role in China’s future energy system. Formulating a complete industry policy system and standard specifications for hydrogen is necessary, according to Lu Lianggong, an NPC deputy and deputy chief economist of Sinopec, China’s biggest hydrogen producer.

Lu added China should at the same time accelerate hydrogen use in transport and guide industries such as petroleum and petrochemicals, logistics, steel, and e-commerce distribution to promote and use FCEVs to a greater extent.

Calls for national hydrogen plan

The call for a national hydrogen industry development plan was echoed by other attendees including Zhang Tianren, chairman of battery manufacturer Tianneng Group, and Huang Yuejin, a member of the CPPCC’s national and HR and environmental committees. Five-year plans covering specific energy sectors including hydrogen are expected to be released in the second half of this year.

Huang proposed the establishment of a national-level hydrogen energy research agency to ensure some core technologies are developed domestically, while strengthening international cooperation on joint research into key technologies. Hydrogen should be developed in synergy with nuclear and renewable energy too, he added.

255 – Refuelling stations already built by China

Various Chinese cities pitched themselves as ideal destinations for piloting a hydrogen economy. Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan province, and neighbouring Chongqing municipality should be jointly added to the list of seven provinces and cities that are piloting the demonstration and commercialisation of FCEVs, proposed Li Chunkui, an NPC deputy and Communist Party secretary of one of Chongqing’s main industrial districts.

Dalian, a major port and shipbuilding hub in northeastern China’s Liaoning province, also has merits for joining the list of pilot cities, according to Yang Xueming, a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

China had built 255 hydrogen refuelling stations by the end of last year, equivalent to nearly 40pc of the 659 stations worldwide, according to the trade body the China Hydrogen Alliance. Of the total in China, 183 were operational compared with 157 in Japan, 80 in South Korea, 173 in Europe and 49 in the US.

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Author: Shi Weijun