Recently, the Hebei Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued a notice on the key construction projects list of Hebei Province for 2025, announcing the approval and inclusion of China Risun Group Hebei Risun Energy Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Hebei Risun") 5 tons/day liquid hydrogen demonstration project.
The announced key construction projects for 2025 in Hebei Province totaling 703 projects with a total investment of 1.5 trillion yuan, including 26 projects related to hydrogen energy. The approved liquid hydrogen demonstration project of Hebei Risun is based on the major success of China's hydrogen expansion and liquefaction technology, using the first domestically produced hydrogen liquefaction system. It is China's first civilian 5 tons/day liquid hydrogen demonstration project, featuring five key technologies including Claude cycle hydrogen liquefaction process design, large-scale high-efficiency continuous para-hydrogen conversion and heat exchange technology, high-speed gas bearing hydrogen turboexpander, large deep cryogenic horizontal cold box partition integration process, and adaptive one-button start-stop control logic under variable conditions. This significantly reduces the cost of hydrogen liquefaction and represents a major breakthrough in the large-scale production of liquid hydrogen in China, breaking the nearly century-long technical blockade by foreign countries.
Compared to gaseous hydrogen, liquid hydrogen has a higher energy density, making it easier to transport and store. Developing liquid hydrogen storage and transportation is currently and in the mid-to-long-term a realistic cost-reduction path for hydrogen transportation. Additionally, the transfer and utilization of green hydrogen is a significant driving force for the development of hydrogen energy storage and transportation. By producing green hydrogen through renewable energy and transporting it as liquid hydrogen to hydrogen consumption clusters, it is an important way to achieve efficient hydrogen storage and transportation, promoting energy strategic transformation and green low-carbon development.
In application, the range of liquid hydrogen heavy trucks can exceed 1,000 kilometers. The long range, along with the advantages of clean zero-carbon emissions and short hydrogen refueling time, can promote liquid hydrogen heavy trucks' important role in long-distance transportation. Currently, multiple liquid hydrogen heavy truck models are in the pre-market stage, and the liquid hydrogen industry market is expected to open officially. Technologies related to liquid hydrogen storage, transportation, refueling, and heavy trucks will replace the gaseous hydrogen industry chain, representing a revolutionary new technology application.
Currently, effectively and directly supplying society with China Risun's annual 6 billion cubic meters of hydrogen resources is a crucial problem for further industrial expansion, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement that needs to be solved. With two years of continuous research and attention to liquid hydrogen industry technology, considering the overall and long-term strategic layout, the group finally anchored the liquid hydrogen technology route, fully solving the problem of economic long-distance hydrogen transportation, and building the future hydrogen energy industry ecosystem.
At present, the liquid hydrogen industry is still in the early stages in China, and the commercial market has not yet formed. After deciding to construct the Hebei Risun 5 tons/day liquid hydrogen demonstration project, the project team quickly carried out feasibility studies, project approval, and other work, accelerating the substantial promotion of the project. From August to October 2024, China Risun Hydrogen Energy completed the hydrogen energy supply task for aerospace customers, helping complete the hydrogen expansion 5 tons/day hydrogen liquefaction system's liquid hydrogen production and full-load test, while actively connecting with government departments and downstream potential customers to form an efficient industry logic closed-loop. As of now, the Hebei Risun 5 tons/day liquid hydrogen demonstration project has completed project establishment and filing, entering the construction phase, and is expected to be put into operation in 2026. The project will continue to extend and expand, ultimately creating the country's first integrated demonstration project covering hydrogen production, hydrogen liquefaction, liquid hydrogen storage, liquid hydrogen transportation, liquid hydrogen high-pressure gaseous hydrogen mixed hydrogen refueling station, liquid hydrogen heavy trucks/locomotives, and operation scenarios, filling the domestic liquid hydrogen industry gap and promoting rapid industry development.
Through this liquid hydrogen demonstration project, and based on the strategic cooperation with aerospace customers, China Risun will take the lead in constructing a complete civilian liquid hydrogen industry system, achieving the successful commercial application of liquid hydrogen technology, and turning China Risun Group's Dingzhou Park into a comprehensive industrial base with multiple products and multiple formats centered on hydrogen, including liquid hydrogen, gaseous hydrogen, methanol, synthetic ammonia, and liquid oxygen. It will also provide medium security services for aerospace, electronics, pharmaceutical, and food industries. Additionally, by taking the China Risun Group's Dingzhou Park liquid hydrogen plant as the center, it will create two liquid hydrogen transportation demonstration routes from Dingzhou to Laiyuan and Dingzhou to Beijing, providing support for the formulation of national standards for liquid hydrogen road transportation, and actively developing the liquid hydrogen transportation network. This will gradually form a nationwide liquid hydrogen supply network, effectively solving the problems of high hydrogen transportation costs, short range, and low hydrogen refueling efficiency. Meanwhile, it will continue to promote the construction of integrated hydrogen refueling stations for gaseous and liquid hydrogen in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, implement liquid hydrogen heavy truck operation projects, and accelerate the commercial process of liquid hydrogen heavy trucks. Furthermore, it will actively participate in the construction of the national energy liquid hydrogen technology key laboratory, jointly promoting major scientific research projects with project partners, carrying out high-end hydrogen energy technology and advanced equipment application technology research, and iteratively upgrading the country's first 30 tons/day hydrogen liquefaction device, achieving the R&D, manufacturing, and landing of larger-scale liquid hydrogen equipment.
Seizing the opportunity of the liquid hydrogen demonstration project being approved as a key construction project in Hebei Province for 2025, China Risun Hydrogen Energy will focus on revolutionary innovations in hydrogen energy storage and applications, committed to building the country's first commercial liquid hydrogen integrated demonstration factory, forming a replicable and promotable production and operation model, seizing the market opportunity, training a first-class liquid hydrogen team (design, construction, and production management), creating an outstanding energy transition service provider, making key technical breakthroughs and scientific and technological achievements in liquid hydrogen, fully establishing an open and innovative liquid hydrogen ecosystem, and making positive contributions to accelerating the development of new quality productivity in China's liquid hydrogen field.
