Hydrogen energy is a kind of secondary energy with rich sources, green and low-carbon, and widely used. It is gradually becoming one of the important carriers of global energy transformation and development. Green electricity hydrogen production, coal-electricity mixed burning, hydrogen power generation and other forms of electric hydrogen synergy, can not only promote the consumption of renewable energy, improve the flexibility of the power system, but also support the deep decarbonization of multiple fields, which is of great significance to the construction of a new power system.
In China, the coordinated development of electric hydrogen has a good foundation and faces multiple challenges. How to better play the role of hydrogen energy in the construction of new power systems has become a realistic problem that the energy industry must answer.
policy guidance: building a “chess game” layout from the state to the local
the coordinated development of electric hydrogen cannot be separated from the precise “navigation” of policies “. In 2019, the government work report proposed to “promote the construction of charging, hydrogenation and other facilities”; in 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the “Medium and Long-term Plan for the Development of the Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021-2035)”, which clarified hydrogen The strategic positioning of the energy and hydrogen industry lays a policy foundation for the coordinated development of electricity and hydrogen; in October 2025, the National Energy Administration issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Integrated Development it is proposed to focus on improving the level of coordinated development of scenery and hydrogen storage, and steadily build a green hydrogen ammonia alcohol (hydrogen-based energy) comprehensive industrial base; the” Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for the People’s Republic of China National Economic and Social Development “proposes to promote quantum technology, biological manufacturing, Hydrogen energy and nuclear fusion energy, brain-computer interface, physical intelligence, and sixth-generation mobile communications have become new economic growth points.
from the specific direction, the policy is fully targeted: in the field of green electricity hydrogen production, the state encourages the development of “wind and solar power generation + hydrogen energy storage”, green electricity hydrogen production ammonia alcohol integration, industrial by-product hydrogen production and new energy weak grid connection and off-grid hydrogen production; In terms of hydrogen energy consumption and energy storage, hydrogen energy storage is listed as the key direction for the development of new energy storage, and hydrogen fuel cell technology is proposed, the layout of hydrogen energy cogeneration facilities according to local conditions; in terms of coal-fired power blending, biomass and green ammonia blending are listed as the core technology path of coal-fired power low-carbon transformation, and large-capacity coal-fired boilers are encouraged to blend green ammonia.
Encouraged by national policies, localities have also developed their strengths in combination with resource endowments. Jiangsu focuses on the whole industrial chain of “production, storage, transportation and utilization” of hydrogen energy to build a hydrogen energy innovation center in the Yangtze River Delta. With Fuzhou and Xiamen as the core, Fujian will build a hydrogen energy industry chain base, develop solid-state hydrogen storage technology, and plan to radiate surrounding cities to build a coastal hydrogen energy economic corridor. Sichuan uses clean energy from Panxi and northwest Sichuan to build a large-scale hydrogen production base and a “one corridor and multi-way” hydrogen transportation system “to allow hydrogen transportation system to enter the plateau; anhui cultivates leading enterprises, builds hydrogen energy equipment industrial parks, and promotes hydrogen energy buses and logistics vehicles in Lu’an and Hefei… The electricity-hydrogen synergy pattern of” a national chess game with regional characteristics “is taking shape at an accelerated pace.
Breaking the game forward: facing the challenge of electric hydrogen collaborative scale development
electric hydrogen collaborative development momentum is good, but to achieve large-scale application, still need to solve the economy, industrial chain coordination, policy and market mechanism coordination three challenges.
The high proportion of green electricity cost is a key factor affecting the economy of green hydrogen. At present, the domestic green electricity cost accounts for about 70% of the cost of green hydrogen preparation. Although the economy of green hydrogen in new energy-rich provinces such as Inner Mongolia and Liaoning has initially appeared, the overall economy of green electricity hydrogen production needs to be improved. Technical constraints and lack of capacity make the initial investment cost of the project high. The cost of hydrogen energy storage is difficult to compete with mature technologies such as pumped storage and compressed air energy storage in the short term, discouraging many enterprises.
Electric hydrogen synergy requires deep synergy in multiple industries such as electricity, hydrogen energy, and transportation. China’s clean energy resources are mostly concentrated in the northwest and southwest regions, while the demand is concentrated in the central and eastern regions. At present, there is a lack of economically feasible technology for large-scale hydrogen transportation, and China’s hydrogen long-distance pipeline network is still in the stage of exploration and cultivation.
The coordinated development of electricity and hydrogen needs the dual drive of policy support and market mechanism, and many aspects need to be strengthened at present. For example, in the aspect of ammonia blending transformation of coal-fired power plants, although the policy requires that the coal-fired power plants in service should have more than 10% blending capacity by the end of 2027, it is not a mandatory requirement. Some enterprises may complete the carbon emission target by purchasing quotas instead of carrying out ammonia blending equipment transformation. At the same time, the interaction mechanism between hydrogen energy storage and power grid is not perfect, which affects the income of hydrogen energy storage power station project to a certain extent.
multi-party efforts: to promote the coordinated high-quality development of electric hydrogen
to solve the problem of the coordinated development of electric hydrogen, to promote its scale, from the technical, policy, planning three aspects.
Strengthen the interactive technology of electric hydrogen coupling and power grid. Power grid enterprises need to focus on key technologies such as electrolyzer core materials and fuel cells, strengthen cooperation with universities and scientific research institutes, improve the localization rate and operation efficiency of equipment, and reduce technical costs. Vigorously develop the stability control and grid-connected technology of electric hydrogen hybrid energy storage system, explore the application of hydrogen energy storage in the power grid peak adjustment, emergency backup, voltage support and other auxiliary service market, so that hydrogen can play the advantages of “peak-shifting and valley-filling” and long-term energy storage, and better serve the safe and stable operation of the power grid.
Promote the improvement of coal power ammonia blending policy and resource guarantee. At the policy level, government departments can formulate quota allocation indicators for the carbon market in the power generation industry to avoid “one size fits all” and allow coal-fired power units that carry out low-carbon transformation to obtain more reasonable quotas; optimize the market clearing mechanism for coal-fired low-carbon transformation units to ensure that the transformation units have stable power generation space and income, and improve the enthusiasm of enterprises for transformation. In terms of resource security, the layout of the northeast, northwest and north China green hydrogen eastward transmission channels in advance will reduce the transportation cost of raw materials for coal-fired power blending in the central and eastern regions; speed up the clarification of hydrogen energy storage as a new type of energy storage to participate in the specific mechanism of power grid regulation, encourage wind and wind hydrogen storage integration projects to participate in power grid peak adjustment, and broaden the project revenue channels.
Coordinate power grid planning and electric hydrogen collaborative demonstration layout. At the beginning of power grid planning, power grid enterprises should consider the development needs of hydrogen energy industry, and reasonably arrange and build “electricity-hydrogen-heat” multi-energy complementary demonstration projects in new energy enrichment areas and power load centers. Timely summary of the existing electric hydrogen collaborative demonstration project experience, refining replicable, can promote the operation mode, to provide reference for large-scale promotion. Explore the use of existing or planned transmission channel resources, pilot demonstration of the feasibility of new energy transmission models such as “West-East Hydrogen Transmission”, further optimize the allocation of energy resources across the country, so that the green hydrogen resources in the west can better help meet the decarbonization needs of the central and eastern regions.
With the continuous breakthrough of technology, the continuous improvement of policies and the acceleration of industrial chain coordination, the synergy of electric hydrogen will inject more kinetic energy into the construction of new power systems and help China’s high-quality energy development to a new level.
