China

Green hydrogen vision/ 绿氢愿景

Already the world’s largest hydrogen producer, China has the potential to use green hydrogen to help meet its energy security and climate goals by reducing emissions from key industries. With world’s largest renewable power capacity¹, the government aims to establish a comprehensive hydrogen industry spanning transportation, energy storage and industrial sectors and "significantly improve" the portion of green hydrogen in China's energy consumption by 2035. (Green Hydrogen Energy Plan, 2022) 

China's production cost of green hydrogen will be competitive with steam methane reforming and coal gasification with carbon capture by 2025 and 2030 respectively - China Hydrogen Alliance 

中国已经是世界上最大的氢气生产国。有潜力利用绿氢，通过减少关键行业的排放，帮助实现其能源安全和气候目标。中国拥有世界上最大的可再生能源发电能力¹，政府的目标是建立一个涵盖交通、储能和工业部门的综合氢能产业，并在2035年之前“显著提高”绿氢在中国能源消费中的比例。(绿色氢能计划，2022)

中国氢能联盟表示：“到2025年和2030年，中国绿氢的生产成本将分别与蒸汽甲烷重整和煤气化碳捕集技术具有竞争力”

National Strategy/ 国家战略

In March 2022 the Chinese government published a plan on the development of green hydrogen energy for the period of 2021-2035. The strategy sets out five goals for 2035:  

1. Build a centralised innovation platform to strengthen research and develop disruptive green hydrogen technologies.
2. Promote the construction of hydrogen energy infrastructure, production, storage, and transportation. 
3. Promote the use of hydrogen in transport, energy storage, and heavy industries.
4. Establish and improve policies on hydrogen infrastructure construction, electricity prices for green hydrogen production.
5. Establish standards for hydrogen quality, safety, infrastructure, and applications.

Almost all provinces and regions in China have included hydrogen in their development plans, and more than 120 green hydrogen projects are under development.

On June 1, 2022, the government issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy Development", and China plans to initially establish a hydrogen energy supply system based on industrial by-production hydrogen and nearby utilisation of renewable hydrogen production.

In August 2023, the government jointly issued the "Hydrogen Energy Industry Standard System Construction Guide (2023)", which aims to guide the construction of the hydrogen energy industry standard system, clarify the recent key tasks of domestic and international hydrogen energy standardization work, and deploy the core standard development action and international standardization promotion action.

Premier Li Qiang delivers the government work report at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress on March 5, 2024. It said it should "accelerate the development of the hydrogen energy industry." The emphasis is on "vigorously developing a green and low-carbon economy. We will promote green transformation of the industrial structure, energy structure, transportation structure, and urban and rural development. We will accelerate the development of a new energy system. Strengthen the construction of large-scale wind power photovoltaic bases and delivery channels, promote the development and utilization of distributed energy, improve the acceptance, configuration and regulation capacity of the grid for clean energy, develop new energy storage, and promote the use of green electricity and international mutual recognition."

2022年3月，中国政府公布了《氢能产业发展中长期规划（2021-2035年）》。该战略规定了2035年的五个目标：

1. 建立集中创新平台，加强研究和开发先进的绿氢技术。
2. 推进氢能产业在生产、储存、运输等环节的基础设施建设。
3. 推动氢能在交通运输、储能和重工业领域的应用。
4. 建立健全氢能基础设施建设，绿氢生产电价等政策
5. 建立氢能质量、安全、基础设施和应用的标准

中国几乎所有省份和地区都将氢能纳入其发展计划，120多个绿氢项目正在开发中。

2022年6月1日，政府印发《“十四五”可再生能源发展规划》，中国计划初步建立以工业副产氢和可再生能源制氢就近利用为主的氢能供应体系。

2023年8月，政府多部委联合颁布《氢能产业标准体系建设指南（2023版）》，该指南旨在指导氢能产业的标准体系建设，明确了国内国际氢能标准化工作的近期重点任务，并部署了核心标准研制行动和国际标准化提升行动。

2024年3月5日，在第十四届全国人民代表大会第二次会议上，国务院总理李强进行了政府工作报告。其中提到应“加快氢能产业发展”。重点强调“大力发展绿色低碳经济。推进产业结构、能源结构、交通运输结构、城乡建设发展绿色转型。加快建设新型能源体系。加强大型风电光伏基地和外送通道建设，推动分布式能源开发利用，提高电网对清洁能源的接纳、配置和调控能力，发展新型储能，促进绿电使用和国际互认”等内容。

Impact Targets/ 影响力目标

• The announced national plan promises 50,000 hydrogen-fuelled vehicles on roads by 2025. 
• The national plan will enable a carbon dioxide emission reduction of 1 million to 2 million tonnes per year.  
• From 2024 to 2025, according to the energy conservation and carbon reduction plan, the target is to save about 32 million tons of standard coal and reduce about 84 million tons of carbon dioxide in the steel, oil refining, ammonia and cement industries.

• 已宣布的规划承诺到2025年氢燃料电池车辆保有量约5万辆。
• 该计划将使二氧化碳排放量每年减少100万至200万吨。
• 2024—2025年，根据节能降碳方案，目标为钢铁、炼油、合成氨、水泥行业形成节能量约3200万吨标准煤，减排二氧化碳约8400万吨。

Policy Spotlight/ 政策焦点

1. The Chinese city of Shanghai is on track to establish a groundbreaking "filling centre" for green shipping fuels at its port by 2030. This ambitious facility will dispense up to one million tonnes of green methanol and green ammonia annually, significantly advancing the maritime sector's sustainability. Once realised, Shanghai's filling centre will undoubtedly become the most significant global distributor of green hydrogen-based shipping fuels. The city is equally committed to transforming this centre into a major trading hub and spot market for these fuels. 
    
2. In a recent announcement, Shanghai authorities unveiled a robust roadmap with plans to produce 300,000 tonnes of green hydrogen-based fuels locally. Additionally, they are set to secure another one million tonnes from external sources, leading to a total of 1.3 million tonnes—well above the centre's target capacity. This initiative positions Shanghai as a green shipping fuel industry leader, paving the way for a sustainable future.

Financing/ 融资

Policy support and technological advancements have significantly accelerated green hydrogen projects in China. The number of projects grew from 10 in 2021 to over 90 in 2022 and surpassed 100 in 2023. In the first quarter of 2024, an additional 83 projects were recorded, with planned investments exceeding 600 billion yuan. This amount is equivalent to about two-thirds of the global industry scale, which currently stands at approximately 125 billion US dollars (around 900 billion yuan). However, only 10 of these projects have begun construction or production.  

Investment is primarily concentrated in regions with abundant renewable resources, strong policy backing, and high demand potential from end users. Notably, Northwest, Northeast, and North China are key areas for this investment. In 2023, Inner Mongolia alone accounted for 59% of China's total investment in green hydrogen projects. 

Government green hydrogen lead/ 主导政府部门

1. National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) 
2. The National Energy Administration
3. Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
4. Ministry of Ecology and Environment
5. Ministry of Natural Resources
6. Standarisation Administration of the PRC
7. Ministry of Emergency Management
8. China Hydrogen Alliance

1. 国家发展和改革委员会
2. 国家能源局
3. 工业和信息化部
4. 生态环境部
5. 自然资源部
6. 国家标准化管理委员会
7. 应急管理部
8. 中国氢能联盟

Comment/ 评论

China is well-placed to become an early significant producer and user of green hydrogen. 

With its vast production of photovoltaic cells and equipment to produce renewable energy, plans for significant production of electrolysers combined with its desire to reduce the import of oil and gas, makes it likely that China will become a green hydrogen giant.  

中国处于有利地位，有望成为绿氢的早期重要生产国和消费国。 

中国大量生产光伏电池和可再生能源生产设备，计划大量生产电解槽，再加上减少石油和天然气进口的愿望，使中国有可能成为一个绿氢大国。