In Hami, Xinjiang, the winds of Naomaohu sweep across the Gobi, carrying the distinctive air of a coal chemical industrial park. Once a stop on the ancient Silk Road, this region now connects to the world in a new way. Computing fiber optics and oil pipelines run underground, photovoltaic panels and solar thermal mirrors stretch across the sunlit landscape, and hydrogen-powered heavy trucks shuttle along the highways—Hami is growing a multi-billion-yuan industrial cluster amidst the sand and dust.
The next chapter for oil-rich coal
The Naomaohu and Santanghu mining areas contain a special type of coal—oil-rich coal—a rare and valuable resource not only in China but globally. However, resource endowment does not automatically translate into industrial advantage. "Our country is not short of coal chemical technology research; universities and laboratories hold hundreds of high-quality achievements, but over 90% are stuck on the path to practical application," admitted Guo Yufeng, Executive Deputy Director of the Hami Oil-Rich Coal Research Institute, during an interview.
While laboratory-scale testing is often successful, scaling up to industrial production introduces subtle variations in temperature, pressure, and material ratios that can lead to process instability, excessive energy consumption, and substandard product quality. Compounding this, a company building a standalone pilot testing facility may need to invest tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of yuan, with a high risk of failure, and the equipment is single-purpose and underutilized. This gap is the industry-wide bottleneck hindering the upgrade and industrialization of coal chemical technologies nationwide.
After a 2023 comprehensive Xinjiang scientific expedition revealed the unique properties of coal in the Naomaohu area, the Yiwu County government, together with Xinjiang University and Xinjiang Xuandong Energy Co., Ltd., launched the construction of a pilot testing base in September 2024. This established an integrated innovation platform combining government, academia, and industry. In December 2025, the first oil-rich coal pilot base in Xinjiang—the Hami Oil-Rich Coal Research Institute Pilot Base—officially began operations. Located in the Naomaohu Coal Chemical Circular Economy Industrial Zone of Yiwu Industrial Park, it includes a sci-tech innovation building, standardized workshops, and pilot testing equipment areas.
Inside the base's workshop, two cutting-edge domestic systems stand out: the oil-rich coal hydrogenation pyrolysis unit and the coal tar-to-aromatics unit. Known as the "two key tools" for solving the low-value utilization of oil-rich coal, the base is also equipped with a coal tar hydrogenation catalytic small-scale testing platform, a hydrogenated tail oil-to-lubricant unit, a sodium-ion battery anode material preparation device, and an anion exchange membrane water electrolysis hydrogen production system—all with 100% independently developed intellectual property. From "fuel" to "chemicals and new materials," from lab scale to industrial production, this pilot base in the Gobi is bridging the "last mile" of transforming scientific achievements into real-world applications.
Light and heat over the Gobi
Deep in the desert, 260,000 high-precision tracking mirrors stand in orderly rows under the sun. This is the nation's first million-kilowatt "solar thermal plus photovoltaic" integrated comprehensive energy demonstration project—the Three Gorges New Energy Hami 1-Gigawatt Solar Thermal plus Photovoltaic Project. "We have 46 heat collection units using 'linear Fresnel' heat collection technology," explained Xu Fei, head of the maintenance department at Three Gorges New Energy Hami Wind Power Co., Ltd. "A tower-based solar thermal plant is equipped with a single heat absorber; if that core component fails, the whole system can shut down. In contrast, our units use a modular design—if one unit has an anomaly, it can be isolated and handled independently, and the remaining 45 units can maintain normal operation, enhancing overall system reliability."
Built with a 1:9 ratio (100 MW solar thermal plus 900 MW photovoltaic), the project heats molten salt from 290 degrees Celsius to 550 degrees Celsius during the day and stores it in a hot tank. At night, when photovoltaics cannot generate power, the molten salt exchanges heat with water to produce high-temperature steam, which drives a turbine to generate electricity. Put simply, it "first concentrates light to store heat, then swaps the heat to generate power." The project is under the unified management of the State Grid Xinjiang provincial dispatch and its electricity is consumed locally within Xinjiang. In July 2026, the project officially enters commercial trial operation, creating a complementary generation model of "photovoltaic-led daytime generation and solar thermal backup at night."
Hydrogen power on the production line
"In the past, fuel cell systems for hydrogen vehicles in Xinjiang were 'made elsewhere, used in Xinjiang.' Now, we've achieved 'made in Xinjiang, first used in Xinjiang, and radiating across the northwest,'" said Huang Huanqing, General Manager of Xinjiang Kunhua New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., getting straight to the point. "We focus on the R&D and production of high-power hydrogen fuel cell engine systems, and the vehicle models we currently support are already in commercial operation." Huang told reporters that their products cover a range from 150 kW to 250 kW and four customized vehicle models have been developed for Hami's different operating scenarios.
In December 2025, Xinjiang Kunhua New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.'s Yiwu Hydrogen Base officially launched, with 200 hydrogen heavy trucks delivered simultaneously. These vehicles are equipped with the company's independently developed second-generation high-power single-stack fuel cell engine, the "Kun-Yun 200," with a rated output power of 215 kW. Huang calls the fuel cell system the "power heart" of a hydrogen vehicle. In his words, "Mastering efficient and reliable fuel cell system R&D and manufacturing capabilities is one of the 'critical links' to winning in the hydrogen industry and is of great significance for building an independent and controllable industrial chain."
Given Xinjiang's high altitude, severe cold, long climbs, and heavy loads, Xinjiang Kunhua New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. has conducted extensive targeted R&D. The technical team carried out rigorous environmental testing, successfully achieving a -30 degrees Celsius cold start based on system control strategies, with product life exceeding 20,000 hours. Additionally, the fuel cell system is equipped with insulation and electric heating as auxiliary measures to ensure rapid startup even in extremely low temperatures. "Matching the power of the fuel cell system and the parameters of the hydrogen storage system with customer needs depends on their operating routes," Huang explained. "We determine the appropriate system power level and vehicle configuration parameters based on information like transport distance and road conditions."
Unlike energy-type batteries in electric heavy trucks, hydrogen heavy trucks use a "fuel cell system plus power-type battery" hybrid architecture. The R&D team has collected data from nearly two years of various operating conditions in mountainous areas like Qianshan Township, Yiwu County, to continuously optimize the powertrain control strategies. With Hami's abundant coal reserves, the mines and transport routes provide a natural testing ground for hydrogen heavy trucks. Huang revealed that from October to November 2026, the company plans to produce hydrogen-powered autonomous mining trucks at its factory for overburden stripping operations in open-pit coal mines. "This will be the first hydrogen mining truck deployed in real-world operation in Xinjiang."
In addition, small-scale explorations are underway for new scenarios such as hydrogen-powered shared two-wheelers and hydrogen drones. To address the challenge of hydrogen refueling in mining areas, the technical team is validating multiple solutions including hydrogen swapping and skid-mounted refueling systems. Looking ahead, Xinjiang Kunhua New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. will leverage the Yiwu Hydrogen Base as a cornerstone, using hydrogen heavy trucks to support the "Xinjiang coal outward transport" strategy. "During the '15th Five-Year Plan' period, we will center on Hami and radiate to Jiuquan, Ningdong, and Zhundong, co-building the Belt and Road energy corridor and helping establish a northwest hydrogen equipment manufacturing base," Huang said.
Flashing data in the computer room
In the server room of the Tianshan Zhigu Advanced Computing Cluster Center in Yiwu County, massive amounts of data flow at high speed. Leveraging Hami's abundant energy resources, the integrated model of "new energy plus computing power" is building a new industrial dimension above the Gobi. The optical fibers carrying computing power not only run underground but also extend Hami's energy value from the physical world into the digital realm.
From coal to computing power, from sunlight to hydrogen energy, Hami is constructing a self-sustaining industrial ecosystem on the Gobi. Every technological breakthrough and every industrial upgrade on this land answers the same question: how to cultivate a more sustainable future atop resource endowment. The answer is becoming clearer in the winds of Naomaohu, within the server rooms of Tianshan Zhigu, in the tracking paths of the mirrors, and on the routes of the hydrogen heavy trucks.
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