China Flexes Its Green Hydrogen Muscles In Europe

The emerging global green hydrogen industry is littered with false starts and wrong turns, and yet it persists. While some stakeholders have pulled back today, others have set their sights on better times tomorrow. The latest example of long term planning comes from the Chinese firm Sungrow Power Supply. The company has set up an elaborate new state-of-the-art hydrogen R&D facility at the Munich Airport Business Park in Germany through its Sungrow Hydrogen branch, aiming for a foothold in the ripe but difficult-to-pluck European market.

A New Green Hydrogen Laboratory: First Germany, Tomorrow The World

Sungrow Hydrogen unveiled the new Sungrow Research Center on August 19. In addition to prying open a window into the European market, Sungrow aims to help kick the entire global green hydrogen market into high gear “Sungrow Hydrogen, in collaboration with Sungrow Research Center, is tackling critical industry challenges to accelerate the commercialization of green hydrogen solutions worldwide,” Sungrow enthused in a press statement announcing the new lab. The company drew particular attention to the lab’s focus on water electrolysis and Power-to-X, with Power-to-X being shorthand for deploying green hydrogen as an all-purpose energy carrier.

“As part of Sungrow Hydrogen’s global technology strategy, this Munich lab joins its industry-leading 30MW water electrolysis hydrogen production empirical platform, key materials research center and product research center to form a complete innovation chain,” Sungrow Hydrogen explains.

Sungrow did not cut corners. The new research facility hosts four different specialized laboratories, and that’s just a starting point. “Designed with significant expansion capacity, the laboratory has reserved ample space to accommodate future technological developments and testing needs,” Sungrow notes.

Where Is This Green Hydrogen Market Of Which You Speak?

As for whether or not such a venture makes sense, that depends on your perspective. While the markets in Europe and the US continue to wobble on shaky ground, China has plunged headlong into the sparkling green hydrogen pond of the future.

China began emerging as a leading stakeholder by 2022, when it launched a new strategy for increasing its deployment of hydrogen with the help of renewable resources. In one particularly interesting development, Sinopec has been exploiting its portside infrastructure to leverage floating solar arrays for on-site hydrogen production.

Earlier this year S&P Global took stock of the new strategy and noted that about half of the global supply of green hydrogen now comes under the umbrella of China. The high-powered pace of competition could be one reason why some legacy hydrogen stakeholders have throttled down on their green hydrogen plans to focus on their fossil energy business (see more background on China’s hydrogen ventures here).

Whatever Happened To The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Of The Future?

Among other applications, green hydrogen is the sustainability key to free hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles the conventional hydrogen supply chain, which consists primarily of natural gas and coal.

If Sungrow is focusing on the FCEV market, that’s going to be a tough row hoe. FCEVs are running far behind their battery-powered cousins on cost and fuel availability among other key factors. The market gap is particularly evident in the US, where both Honda and Toyota have tried, and failed, to make fuel cell passenger cars happen.

Nevertheless, even in the US market some automotive stakeholders are continuing to send out feelers, particularly in the area of Class 8 heavy duty trucks where long distances, the need for hauling power, and fast refueling all work in favor of fuel cells.

So far the road has been a choppy one. The high profile US fuel cell truck startup Nikola was off to a promising start until it crashed and burned its way into bankruptcy earlier this year. On the bright side, last week the truck leasing firm Hyroad Energy announced that it rescued 113 Nikola hydrogen fuel cell trucks from the salvage barn along with spare parts, software, and other assets needed to put them on the road and keep them there.

While Nikola was slipping into the dustbin of startup history, two legacy truck makers, Toyota and PACCAR, have continued working on a plan to produce fuel cell trucks under PACCAR’s familiar Peterbilt and Kenworth brands. However, series production has yet to materialize.

The Class 6 category is receiving a share of attention, too. Earlier this year the US truck services firm Fontaine Modification hooked up with Ballard Power Systems, Linamar Corporation, Kentucky Trailer, and the French firm Forsee Power to produce Class 6 fuel cell trucks with a focus on ferrying goods between distribution centers, hitting the sweet spot of 300 to 500 miles.