China backs wider hydrogen adoption as Strait of Hormuz crisis jolts energy markets
Initiative to expand industrial hydrogen use and lower the renewable fuel’s price dovetails with Beijing’s energy security strategy amid oil crisis
In a Monday notice, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and several other agencies set a target to cut the average hydrogen price for end users to below 25 yuan (US$4) per kilogram by 2030, and to about 15 yuan per kilogram in certain “advantaged regions”.
The programme will be applied across urban clusters in sectors such as transport and heavy industry, aiming to double fuel-cell vehicle ownership from 2025 levels to 100,000 units in five years – a sizeable increase for the still nascent sector.
The guidelines also called for expanding hydrogen-powered public transport and urban logistics, and exploring the use of the renewable fuel in ride-hailing fleets. Beijing also plans to blend hydrogen into natural gas pipelines and industrial boilers to promote its use as a heat source.
According to the notice, the programme will “construct renewable hydrogen production projects to gradually replace existing hydrogen production using coal, natural gas and other fossil energy”.