Hydrogen energy has become a key pillar of national energy strategy, poised to serve as China's future green oil, according to remarks made by German National Academy of Science and Engineering academician Lei Xianzhang at the 2026 Ziyang Hydrogen Industry Ecosystem Conference held on August 28.
Themed "Hydrogen Source Ziyang, Linking Chengdu-Chongqing," the conference unveiled Ziyang's 15th Five-Year Plan for hydrogen industry development and introduced 46 investment opportunity projects with a total investment of 8.6 billion yuan, signaling the city's accelerated push into the hydrogen energy sector as a key future industry track.
Building a Hydrogen Industry Cluster
As a prefecture-level city directly connecting the Chengdu-Chongqing economic "dual core," Ziyang is traversed by multiple major routes including the Chengdu-Chongqing Expressway and the Yurong Expressway, making it a crucial node on the Chengdu-Chongqing hydrogen corridor. Numerous conference attendees noted that Ziyang holds natural advantages for developing hydrogen-powered logistics.
"Hydrogen-powered heavy trucks and logistics vehicles have promising application scenarios and market potential in Ziyang," said Qiao Bingwei, deputy general manager of Beijing Zhongdi Smart Energy Co., Ltd., which is currently establishing a hydrogen production and refueling integrated station in Ziyang. Qiao expressed strong confidence in the company's prospects in the region.
Ziyang boasts the Anyue gas field with reserves of 1.45 trillion cubic meters and the Yanjiang Dongfeng shale gas field with 0.24 trillion cubic meters, providing a solid foundation for hydrogen purification. Currently, the city's hydrogen industry system is beginning to take shape. On the equipment front, Hyundai's commercial hydrogen light trucks have accumulated sales exceeding 700 units, hydrogen heavy trucks have been delivered to the market, CRRC Ziyang hydrogen locomotives are in commercial operation in Guizhou, and more than 30 supporting enterprises have clustered in areas such as hydrogen-blended pipelines, high-pressure valves, and compression equipment. On the refueling front, an integrated "oil, gas, hydrogen, and electricity" energy station with a daily hydrogen refueling capacity of 500 kilograms has been completed. On the application front, 20 hydrogen fuel cell buses are already in operation.
Yi Peiyun, chairman of Shanghai Hydrogen Cypress Technology Co., Ltd., noted that Ziyang has application-side enterprises such as Keeway, Hyundai Motor, and Ziyang CRRC as excellent partners. "By establishing our presence in Ziyang, we fill the intermediate technology gap and will connect the complete chain from hydrogen production to technology and then to application," Yi said.
Lin Zhongqin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, believes that Ziyang is well-positioned for hydrogen development by anchoring its goal of integrating into the Chengdu-Chongqing hydrogen corridor and building a hydrogen industry cluster, systematically laying out the "production, storage, transportation, refueling, and application" industrial chain.
Implementing Five Key Projects
"This is a magnesium-based solid-state hydrogen storage material. A piece this small can store 5 liters of hydrogen," explained Zhang Yuxiang, head of Aiqing (Chongqing) Energy Development Co., Ltd., holding up a glass cup at the product exhibition area. Inside the cup, several white tablet-shaped pieces represented their core product. This type of material absorbs hydrogen like a sponge, solving both safety and storage challenges.
Lei Xianzhang pointed out that beyond production costs, the safety and economic viability of hydrogen storage and transportation represent another "core bottleneck." "We need to transport hydrogen as safely as oil and store it as conveniently as water," he stated.
In Ziyang's 15th Five-Year Plan for hydrogen industry development, storage and transportation innovation has been incorporated into the "Hydrogen Source Foundation Project," which promotes high-pressure hydrogen transmission pipelines and large-capacity high-pressure tube trailers while exploring new technologies such as solid-state hydrogen storage and liquid hydrogen.
The plan outlines an overall approach of "One Corridor Leading, One City Positioning, Five Major Projects": led by the Chengdu-Chongqing hydrogen corridor, positioning Ziyang as a distinctive hydrogen industry city in the central Chengdu-Chongqing region, and implementing the five key projects of hydrogen source foundation, network densification, scenario expansion, chain strengthening, and quality improvement, and technological breakthroughs.
By 2030, the city aims to establish an integrated "production, storage, transportation, refueling, and application" industrial ecosystem, with the central Chengdu-Chongqing distinctive hydrogen industry city basically taking shape.
The investment opportunity list released at the conference provides concrete grounding for the plan: 46 projects with a total investment of 8.6 billion yuan, covering the entire hydrogen industry chain from production, storage, transportation, and refueling to application. Ziyang has also formulated a series of policies and measures to support high-quality hydrogen industry development, making comprehensive efforts across technological innovation, fund empowerment, financial services, scenario opening, and industrial chain building and strengthening.
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