China leads global hydrogen production amid clean energy race
The number of planned large-scale renewable hydrogen projects is growing quickly,’ NEA top official Xu Jilin said on Monday
China accounted for more than a third of global hydrogen output last year, making it possibly the biggest producer as the country reached a critical point to push for large-scale projects.
The country produced about 36.5 million tons of hydrogen last year, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said in a report on Monday. Fossil fuel-based hydrogen remains the dominant source, accounting for 56 per cent of the production, while hydrogen generated through electrolysis process amounted to only 320,000 tons, it said.
Global hydrogen production probably reached 100 million tons in 2024, according to an estimate by Paris-based International Energy Agency, up from about 97 million tons in 2023. 2025 is a crucial year for driving China’s hydrogen industry towards large-scale development, an NEA official said.
The country still faces challenges, such as improving the economic viability of hydrogen projects and industry standards, said Xu Jilin, deputy director general of the Department of Energy Conservation and Science and Technology Equipment. Beijing would increase its support to spur innovation and international cooperation in the next five years, he added.
He said,
The number of planned large-scale renewable hydrogen projects is growing quickly, but the technology and operations still lag behind traditional methods,
“This has resulted in slow implementation and limited exploration of application scenarios.”
Green hydrogen, produced using renewable energy to power electrolysers that convert water into hydrogen, only accounted for a small fraction of the country’s overall hydrogen output last year, according to the NEA, despite a 60 per cent jump in capacity following the completion of 35 new projects in the past year.
China had the capacity to produce 125,000 tons of green hydrogen annually, or more than half of the global production capacity, the government estimated.
Beijing has been promoting the hydrogen industry as part of its drive to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060, hoping to replicate the success in making electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels. Hydrogen was included for the first time in the government’s annual work report last year, putting it on the path of accelerated development.
At the end of 2024, the country’s central and local governments had issued over 560 hydrogen energy-related policies, the NEA said.
There were more than 540 hydrogen refuelling stations nationwide at the end of last year, the NEA said, while the number of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles on the road stood at 240,000. Both increased by 30 per cent last year, it added.
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China leads global hydrogen production amid clean energy race, source
