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Recently, the "International Hydrogen Energy Technology and Industry Development Research Report 2026" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") compiled by the research team of the Hydrogen Energy Branch of the China Association for the Promotion of Industrial Development has been officially released. The report points out that the hydrogen energy industry in major countries and regions around the world is at a critical stage of transitioning from demonstration exploration to large-scale development. As of December 2025, 66 countries and regions including China, Japan, and the United States have released hydrogen energy strategies. During the same period, the global low-carbon hydrogen production capacity has exceeded 1.1 million tons per year, of which the green hydrogen production capacity is about 430000 tons per year. China is the main contributor, accounting for over 65%, and the growth momentum is strong.

 

Currently, hydrogen energy has evolved from a single energy carrier to a key variable in reshaping the global energy competition landscape. From the perspective of hydrogen production technology development, water electrolysis hydrogen production has become the main direction of global low-carbon hydrogen industry development, and the increase in installed capacity of electrolytic cells and technological innovation are advancing simultaneously. In addition to the mainstream alkaline (ALK) electrolysis cell and proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis cell routes, technological routes such as photocatalytic hydrogen production, biomass hydrogen production, and direct hydrogen production from seawater are also accelerating their development. The installed capacity of electrolytic cells in China is leading the world, accounting for about 50%. In addition, China has also launched ALK electrolysis cells with a maximum hydrogen production capacity of 5000 standard cubic meters per hour and PEM electrolysis cells with a maximum hydrogen production capacity of 1000 standard cubic meters per hour.

 

From the development of hydrogen storage and transportation technology, new breakthroughs have been made in gaseous, liquid, and solid hydrogen storage technologies. In terms of gaseous hydrogen storage, European and American 50 megapascal pressure long tube trailers have been commercially available, with a single vehicle hydrogen capacity of about 900 kilograms. At the same time, the total length of hydrogen pipelines worldwide has exceeded 5000 kilometers, and the highest proportion of hydrogen in natural gas pipelines has reached 30%. In terms of liquid hydrogen storage, the global liquid hydrogen production capacity exceeds 500 tons/day, with the United States accounting for 67%; The world's largest organic liquid hydrogen storage project has an annual hydrogen storage capacity of 1800 tons. In terms of solid-state hydrogen storage, chemical hydrogen storage is mainly based on metal hydrides, and many countries have successively implemented production lines.

 

From the perspective of hydrogen application promotion, the demand for traditional application fields such as refining, synthetic ammonia, and methanol continues to grow, forming a synergistic resonance with the rapid release of demand for emerging application scenarios such as transportation and energy. The report points out that in the field of transportation, fuel cell vehicles, as a leading area for promoting the development of hydrogen energy industry in various countries, have formed a development consensus with commercial vehicles as the promotion focus. As of December 2025, the global number of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will reach around 120000, and approximately 1300 hydrogen refueling stations will be built worldwide during the same period. In the chemical industry, the process of low-carbon hydrogen substitution is accelerating, and integrated projects such as green hydrogen synthesis of ammonia and methanol have become industry hotspots.

 

Zhang Yu, Vice President and Secretary General of the Hydrogen Energy Branch of the China Association for the Promotion of Industrial Development, introduced that the current development models of hydrogen energy industries in various countries show distinct differentiation characteristics. Among them, Japan and South Korea are leading in fuel cell technology, vigorously promoting the large-scale application of fuel cell technology in the fields of transportation and energy. The EU is committed to becoming a global hydrogen trade rule maker by establishing a hydrogen certification system, and actively promoting the large-scale application of green hydrogen with policy driven as the core. The United States insists on technology first, with globally leading technologies such as hydrogen liquefaction and hydrogen gas turbines.

 

In contrast, China, with the world's most complete new energy industrial system and leading renewable energy installation scale, has connected the complete industrial chain from hydrogen production, storage and transportation to application, and made breakthrough progress in fields such as electrolytic cell manufacturing and commercial vehicle applications, becoming the undisputed "scale leader" of the global hydrogen energy industry. Wei Suo, Vice President of the China Association for the Promotion of Industrial Development and President of the Hydrogen Energy Branch, stated that China has become an important promoter and leader of the global hydrogen energy industry. With the support of national policies, the main technologies, key materials, devices, and equipment manufacturing of the hydrogen energy industry chain have basically achieved localization. The hydrogen energy industry has entered the stage of "technological innovation demonstration application scale reduction market development", showing a vigorous development trend.

 

However, China is still catching up in terms of soft power dimensions such as durability of basic materials, core technologies of key equipment, storage and transportation infrastructure, and international standard setting. At the same time, there is a clear mismatch between China's huge manufacturing capacity and weak storage and transportation network, as well as between rapidly expanding green hydrogen projects and international certification systems. If this structural contradiction cannot be effectively resolved, it will constrain China from upgrading from a scale advantage to a true industrial advantage.

 

It should be noted that there is still room for improvement in basic research, key materials, and other aspects in China. The current key task of the hydrogen energy industry is to promote the large-scale cost reduction of green hydrogen, broaden the path of realizing the environmental value of hydrogen energy, and expand diversified application scenarios. Wei Suo emphasized that only by quickly breaking through these bottlenecks can China's hydrogen energy industry leap from scale advantage to core industry advantage, providing solid support for the construction of new energy systems and green low-carbon transformation. (Economic Daily reporter Wang Yichen)