Rapid growth of China's renewable energy supply to drive hydrogen consumption: report

A report titled "China Hydrogen Industry Outlook" was released in Beijing on Thursday, highlighting the role rapidly increasing renewable energy supply would play in hydrogen consumption.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global strategic management consulting firm, in collaboration with a team led by Ouyang Minggao, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chairman of the International Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association, jointly released the report.

It pointed out that the disparity between China's installed capacity and generation of renewable energy is due to the intermittency and volatility of wind and solar power. Additionally, the lack of regulatory mechanisms has posed challenges in terms of transmission and consumption, resulting in curtailed electricity.

The report emphasizes that the goals of China's energy structure transformation may be challenged if the potential of fluctuating wind and solar power resources isn't fully tapped. It underscores the urgent need to continue developing renewable energy generation.

As the installed capacity of renewable energy increases, the mismatch between generation and demand will continue to grow, prompting the industry to seek efficient methods for utilizing renewable energy and overcoming development bottlenecks, it says.

According to the report, hydrogen is considered a promising solution. Converting to hydroelectricity could possibly overcome part of the limitations of renewable energy, thereby aligning energy supply and demand.

Hydrogen can also be directly applied to a range of downstream scenarios, including hydrogen-based transportation, industrial decarbonization, large-scale storage, and transportation.

In China, as the downstream hydrogen consumption market expands and application scenarios diversify, players in the upstream renewable energy market are investing in the hydrogen industry, thereby propelling the development of the entire hydrogen value chain.

Ouyang said that inthe context of carbon neutrality, the hydrogen industry has entered a new phase of development. With combined efforts from policy, technology, market, and capital, the global hydrogen industrial chain will achieve comprehensive breakthroughs. A massive new energy market will be constructed over the next decade, driving global energy transformation and the adoption of green and low-carbon sources.