From materials to "hardcore" equipment, multinational giants are catching up with hydrogen wind

Hydrogen is not only a raw material widely used in the chemical industry, but also a clean and powerful energy source. With the global energy transition and the acceleration of the construction of a new domestic energy system, the development of the hydrogen energy industry has accelerated.

At this year's CIIE, energy technology companies have exhibited hydrogen-related equipment and key components. The first financial reporter noticed that the overall industrial chain of hydrogen energy is long, and the products and technologies brought by Siemens Energy, Freudenberg, General Electric, Linde and other enterprises cover upstream and downstream fields such as hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, and hydrogen use.

These companies are catching up with the hydrogen wind

"At present, China needs to produce about 30 million tons of hydrogen every year, and the production of hydrogen from mainstream fossil fuels produces an average of about 10 tons of carbon dioxide for every 1 ton of hydrogen produced, so it is estimated that the production process of hydrogen itself produces about 300 million tons of carbon dioxide, accounting for about 3% of China's total carbon emissions. Cheng Yingjun, senior manager of the future technology business of Freudenberg's technology innovation department in China, told the first financial reporter.

He said that the production of "green hydrogen" by electrolysis of water through renewable energy such as photovoltaic and wind power, and the use of "green hydrogen" to replace "gray hydrogen" and carbon-containing raw materials or fuels in industries such as chemicals, electric power, steel and transportation, can significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Green electricity hydrogen production has become a clear commercialization track in China.

It is understood that Freudenberg is a multinational company headquartered in Germany, which has been established for more than 170 years, providing technologies and products for 40 different market segments and thousands of application areas, with global sales of more than 11.7 billion euros in 2022.

At this year's CIIE, Freudenberg launched two new electrolyzers for green hydrogen production, both of which were developed by the company's core non-woven fabric technology and material formulation, which can effectively reduce the energy consumption and cost of hydrogen production and improve the safety of hydrogen production by water electrolysis.

Cheng Yingjun told reporters, "At present, the mainstream method of hydrogen production by water electrolysis in China is alkaline water electrolysis to produce hydrogen, although this technical route has been developed for decades, there is still a lot of room for technical improvement, such as the key components." Freudenberg has advantages in traditional technologies, such as nonwovens and sealing, which can be said to be an extension of traditional technologies for hydrogen energy. From a commercial point of view, Freudenberg's nonwovens for electrolyzer separator substrates are expected to be used in series quantities in the short term. ”

Siemens Energy also announced new developments in the field of hydrogen production. At this year's CIIE, Siemens Energy exhibited the company's largest water electrolysis hydrogen production unit (nearly 4,000 standard cubic meters per hour), which can achieve a 100-megawatt configuration combination through modular design, which is also the first time that the device has been unveiled in China.

GE Vernova exhibited an HA-class gas turbine with 50% hydrogen burning capacity and a goal of achieving 100% hydrogen burning capacity by 2030.

Heavy-duty gas turbines are known as the "crown jewel of industry" and are widely used in gas-fired power generation. Compared with traditional coal power, gas turbines significantly reduce carbon emissions, and hydrogen blending and pure hydrogen combustion will further reduce carbon emissions. In addition to GE, Siemens Energy also unveiled the latest generation of air-cooled gas turbines at its booth with a combined cycle efficiency of more than 64 percent.

At the CIIE, Linde focused on exhibiting advanced technologies and equipment throughout the production, purification, liquefaction, storage, transportation and application of hydrogen energy, and used VR demonstrations to provide the audience with an immersive experience of the whole scene of Linde's hydrogen energy industry chain.

Integration into China's energy transition

According to data from the National Energy Administration, as of the end of June this year, China's installed renewable energy capacity reached 1.322 billion kilowatts, historically surpassing coal power, accounting for about 48.8% of China's total installed capacity. However, at the same time, due to the intermittent, random and fluctuating nature of renewable energy such as wind power and photovoltaic power, the demand for power consumption and various regulatory power sources in the power system is growing rapidly.

Previously, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Medium and Long-term Plan for the Development of the Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021-2035)", which clarified the energy attributes of hydrogen and is also an integral part of the future national energy system. According to the research report of Ping An Securities, from the perspective of the announced planning goals in various parts of China, the scale of China's hydrogen energy industry is expected to reach 700 billion yuan in 2025. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects global hydrogen demand to reach 180 million tonnes by 2030.

Yao Zhenguo, Senior Vice President of Siemens Energy, said, "In the current context of China's deepening energy revolution and accelerating the planning and construction of a new energy system, we look forward to working with Chinese partners to explore the potential of cooperation in the energy field and steadily promote the green and low-carbon energy transformation." ”

Cheng Yingjun told reporters that the domestic hydrogen energy industry is still in its early stages, and domestic and foreign companies are giving full play to their respective advantages. In the field of hydrogen production, Freudenberg, as a component supplier, "We look for cooperation opportunities at an early stage and develop customized products and processes based on the needs of our customers. For example, the electrolyzer separator substrate, we could only achieve a maximum width of 1 meter before, but the domestic commercialization of large-scale electrolyzers has higher requirements for the diaphragm width, we quickly improved the process, and now the width has reached the requirements, and has been delivered to the customer for the next step of verification. ”

In addition, in order to get closer to the Chinese market, Freudenberg also signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Yangtze River Delta National Technology Innovation Center during this year's CIIE, under which the two sides will strengthen the technological innovation and applied R&D ecology in the Yangtze River Delta region, and train engineers and related talents, and jointly incubate and invest in projects with potential.