The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area will have a hub for the production of hydrogen, according to a June 29 announcement from Tangshan, the city that generated 6% of the world’s steel output and 13% of China’s steel in 2021.
The local administration set the objective of creating a 5 billion yuan (US$746 million) business by 2023 to develop hydrogen technology and subsequent uses in its “Tangshan Hydrogen Industry Development Plan” issued on the same day. In order to do this, it plans to entice three to five major hydrogen-related businesses to invest in Tangshan.
Tangshan, which is in the Hebei province to the east of Beijing, intends to profit from the region’s escalating need for hydrogen as a result of the growth of fuel cell cars. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will soon have at least 5,300 fuel cell vehicles on the roads thanks to a trial program that the central government approved last year. By the end of 2023, Tangshan intends to have 700 cars operating on its own roadways.
Notably, the city views its sizable steel sector as its primary source of hydrogen, with the addition of “green hydrogen” created using renewable energy. All coking facilities in Tangshan are anticipated to be equipped to transform coke oven gas, a byproduct of the cooking process, into hydrogen. A hydrogen manufacturing facility must also be established for newly installed solar power plants in the city with a capacity of more than 100 MW.
Additionally, Tangshan will assist regional steelmakers in projects utilizing direct reduced iron (DRI) combined with hydrogen, a strategy that is seen to be crucial in the industry’s attempts to decarburize, and will assist in transforming the steelmaking capital into a “green metallurgical center.”
