WUHAN — On September 1^st, the Department of Economy and Information Technology of Hubei Province released the Action Plan for Accelerating Scaled Commercial and Sustainable Development of the Hydrogen Industry in Hubei Province (2026–2030) (Draft for Comments), opening public consultation through September 7th. The plan proposes that by 2030, the province's hydrogen industry scale will surpass RMB 100 billion, deployment of hydrogen vehicles will reach 7,000 units, annual renewable hydrogen production capacity will hit 30,000 tonnes, hydrogen refueling networks will cover the entire province, and terminal hydrogen prices in major cities will drop to approximately RMB 25 per kilogram.

On technical R&D, the plan targets equipment manufacturing for alkaline electrolyzers, high-pressure PEM systems, and solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOEC) on the production side; cavern, salt cavern, and liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) storage alongside magnesium-based solid-state storage layout on the storage/transport side; 70 MPa high-pressure precooling and high-flow rapid refueling technologies on the refueling side; high-power fuel cells and hydrogen-ammonia internal combustion systems on the application side; and domestic substitution for core components including membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), bipolar plates, and low-platinum catalysts.

Regarding application scenarios, the transport sector will build hydrogen demonstration corridors along key expressways such as "Wuhan–Yichang" and "Wuhan–Shiyan," open cross-provincial logistics corridors, and deploy hydrogen vehicles across logistics, engineering, and public transit. The industrial sector will advance integrated hydrogen-ammonia-methanol hubs in chemical industrial parks and green hydrogen-based shaft furnace metallurgy. The maritime and aviation sectors will push forward the "Hydrogenated Yangtze River" initiative and hydrogen drone applications.

To reduce costs and expand infrastructure, the plan encourages green hydrogen demonstration projects in resource-rich areas via direct power purchase agreements (PPAs), while constructing refueling and integrated energy supply stations at expressway service areas, ports, and industrial parks, alongside exploring integrated on-site hydrogen production and refueling stations.

For policy support, Hubei explicitly commits to continuing expressway toll waivers for hydrogen vehicles, streamlining approval processes for co-located wind/solar-powered integrated production and refueling stations, and waiving hazardous chemical safety production licensing requirements for renewable hydrogen production.

Source：CIHC