The nation’s first hydrogen fuel cell industrial park is to be established in Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone (WHDZ), central China’s Hubei province, with total investment of 11.5 billion yuan ($1.75 billion), according to recent news.
The project is being funded by Shenzhen Center Power Tech, a company that specializes in the development and application of energy storage technologies, and provides battery products for industries including communications, energy storage and electric vehicles.
The company has set up research and development laboratories for hydrogen fuel cells at Tsinghua University, Xiamen University and other colleges and universities.
Shenzhen Center Power Tech [Photo/WeChat account of WHDZ]
Following completion, the industrial park will mainly engage in research, development and manufacturing of hydrogen fuel engines and hydrogen storage systems, as well as cooperating with automobile companies such as Nanjing Golden Dragon Bus Company to develop and manufacture buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
Annual output value of the industrial park is expected to reach 35 billion yuan, helping power Wuhan into a “city of hydrogen fuel”.
“Our hydrogen fuel engines have been used on buses in cities such as Yangzhou in Jiangsu province and Shiyan in Hubei province. Wuhan will be the first mass market,” said Zhang Huanong, chairman of the company.
Wuhan, especially WHDZ, is well-known for automobiles, and is represented by companies like Dongfeng Honda Automobile and Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle Company. Hydrogen fuel will have great potential in Wuhan and great advantages in the automobile industry, added Zhang.
WHDZ is currently transforming and upgrading its automobile industry. Hydrogen fuel cells, as an important type of clean energy, will help boost industrial upgrading.
Representatives from Shenzhen Center Power Tech and Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone discuss site selection and construction plans for a hydrogen fuel cell industrial park. [Photo/WeChat account of WHDZ]
