According to the Economic Daily, on June 10th, the National Energy Administration (NEA) announced the "Notice on Organizing and Carrying Out Pilot Work on Hydrogen Energy in the Energy Field" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), which was recently issued by the Comprehensive Department of the NEA. The NEA will select some projects and regions to carry out pilot work on hydrogen energy, further promote the innovation of hydrogen energy management models, explore diversified paths for the development of the hydrogen energy industry, form replicable and popularizable experience, and support the full-chain development of hydrogen energy "production, storage, transportation, and use".
The "China Hydrogen Development Report (2025)" compiled and released by the National Energy Administration in conjunction with industry-related institutions and experts shows that by the end of 2024, the global renewable energy hydrogen production project has a cumulative production capacity of more than 2.5 million tons per year, and China accounts for more than 50%, and has gradually become the leading country in the world's renewable energy hydrogen production and related industry development. In 2024, China's hydrogen production and consumption scale exceeded 36.5 million tons, ranking third in the world.
The "Notice" aims to promote the full-chain development of hydrogen energy "production, storage, transmission, and use". In accordance with the principle of "innovation-led, pilot first", it guides the application of advanced hydrogen energy technology and equipment, high-level construction of infrastructure, improvement of comprehensive utilization efficiency, and orderly layout of the industry, to provide strong support for building a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient new energy system.
Specifically, the pilot forms are divided into two types. One is project pilot, which relies on project pilot to promote the application and promotion of advanced hydrogen energy technology and key equipment, to support the verification of feasibility and effectiveness of various standards, and to explore project development plans that are advanced in technology, clear in mode, and replicable and popularizable. Project pilot is declared by the owner unit, mainly focusing on a single pilot direction. Relevant projects should have completed the approval, filing and other work in principle, to ensure the smooth operation of the pilot project, clear business model, obvious cost-benefit, prominent carbon reduction effect, and support the project to apply the results of national science and technology major special projects, national key research and development plans, first (set) major technical equipment, energy field research and innovation platforms and other research results, to support the creation of new scenarios, new modes and new mechanisms for the application and promotion of technological equipment achievements, and to consolidate and improve the innovation and competitiveness of the hydrogen energy industry.
The second is regional pilot projects, which rely on regional pilot projects to promote the establishment and improvement of cross-departmental collaboration and management mechanisms for hydrogen energy, explore innovative and sustainable mechanisms for realizing green value, and coordinate and connect various policy resources. Regional pilot projects are declared by leading cities, covering no more than 3 cities, and can coordinate the organization and implementation of related projects, covering multiple pilot directions of the "production, storage, transmission, and use" of hydrogen energy. The relevant cities should have systematically carried out the planning of the development of the hydrogen energy industry, with a significant scale effect of supply and consumption, prominent potential for regional coordinated development, clear infrastructure construction paths, and play the supporting role of various markets and various resources in the hydrogen energy industry by establishing and improving the management norms of hydrogen energy projects, improving the construction of public service platforms, exploring the mechanism of nearby consumption of renewable energy and realizing the green value of hydrogen energy, and playing the supporting role of various markets and various resources in the hydrogen energy industry.
The "Notice" states that, according to the needs of the development of the hydrogen energy industry, actively study and promote the reform of the system and mechanism of nearby consumption and time-sharing of peak and off-peak renewable energy, encourage enterprises to carry out production activities such as hydrogen production in the regions where renewable energy is abundant and during the periods of low electricity consumption, reduce the cost of hydrogen production and improve the efficiency of energy use. At the same time, study and improve the electricity price mechanism and market mechanism for hydrogen energy storage, hydrogen power generation and other projects. In addition,符合条件的 projects and regional pilot projects are given priority to be included in the medium and long-term loans for manufacturing industry, and are recommended to be included in the "two heavy" and "two new" support scope, and related technical equipment is given priority to be included in the first (set) of major technical equipment in the field of energy.
Source: Economic Daily