Dongguan Breaks the Ice in Commercialization of Hydrogen-Powered Two-Wheelers; Jiangsu's All-Hydrogen Cooling Unit Lights Up a Green Future

In the industrial hubs of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta, hydrogen energy is being integrated into people's lives and industries in a "down-to-earth" manner. Recently, 50 hydrogen-powered two-wheelers that "don't require charging or refueling" have appeared on the streets of Zhongtang Town, Dongguan, Guangdong. Riders can achieve a driving range of 80 kilometers by replacing the solid-state hydrogen storage tank, and the "zero-carbon delivery" label on the back of the vehicles is particularly eye-catching. As the country's first hydrogen energy travel commercialization project without financial subsidies, these food delivery vehicles adopt technologies such as on-site methanol hydrogen production and water-cooled hydrogen-electric systems. Through a "swap-and-go" model, the single refueling time is compressed to within 30 seconds, and the operating cost is reduced by 20% compared to traditional EVs. The project operator revealed that, relying on the integrated methanol hydrogen production and refueling station in Zhongtang Town, they will expand the fleet to 200 vehicles in cooperation with Meituan before the end of the year. In the next three years, they plan to deploy 10,000 hydrogen-powered two-wheelers in Dongguan to build a micro-transportation ecosystem integrating "production-storage-utilization".

Almost at the same time, good news came from Wangting Power Plant in Suzhou, Jiangsu: the world's first 500-megawatt fully hydrogen-cooled generator, after completing a 168-hour full-load trial operation, was officially connected to the power grid to supply electricity for the summer peak. This "power heart," equivalent in size to five standard football fields, broke the international monopoly where large-capacity generators could only rely on water-hydrogen cooling technology. Through a fully hydrogen-cooled design, it increased power generation efficiency to 98.8%, with an annual power generation of 1.22 billion kWh that can meet the electricity needs of 250,000 households. What is even more noteworthy is that the "Huadian Ruilan" domestic DCS system equipped on the unit has achieved 100% localization of the gas turbine operation interface and one-button startup, realizing full-chain localization from equipment to control and equipping China's gas-electric power industry with a "Chinese brain." The power plant leader stated that this unit will serve as a "flexible peak shaver" for the east China power grid, taking on the crucial role of a "ballast stone" for the grid during extreme high-temperature weather this summer.

Dongguan's "small yet beautiful" and Jiangsu's "large yet powerful" are exactly two mirrors reflecting the implementation of the hydrogen energy industry: the former uses instant delivery scenarios as an entry point to verify the economic feasibility of hydrogen energy in short-distance transportation through market-oriented operations; the latter uses energy infrastructure as a breakthrough to open up the imagination space for large-capacity clean electricity through technological innovation. As Dongguan plans to build 20 hydrogen refueling stations by 2025 and Jiangsu promotes the "hydrogen into every home" demonstration project, hydrogen energy is transitioning from policy-driven to market-led, forming a "multi-point blooming" situation in transportation, power, energy storage, and other fields. These two hydrogen energy practices in major manufacturing towns not only provide replicable solutions for the "dual carbon" goals, but also herald the accelerated arrival of an era of universal access to clean energy.