China Energy Investment Corporation: Top-Level Design Tender for AI + Hydrogen Energy

On October 15, the National Energy Group New Energy Co., Ltd. publicly issued a tender announcement for the technical consulting service project of the Digital Intelligence Hydrogen Construction Guide and the AI Hydrogen Standard System Construction Guide.

I. Project Background and Overall Objectives

Dual Drivers of Policy and Industry:

The National Energy Administration's "Medium and Long-Term Plan for Hydrogen Industry Development" requires the initial establishment of a hydrogen supply chain system by 2025 and the formation of a diversified green hydrogen application ecosystem by 2030;

The State Council's "Overall Layout Plan for Digital China Construction" proposes "promoting intelligent energy production," and hydrogen energy, as a strategic emerging industry, must simultaneously complete its digital foundation.

Group Requirements:

The National Energy Group has completed construction of green hydrogen capacity totaling 28,000 t/a and 38 hydrogen refueling stations, but data silos exist across projects and AI applications are fragmented, creating an urgent need for a unified language and roadmap;

In 2025, the Group initiated a "quality and efficiency improvement" reform, with the hydrogen sector designated as a key area for personnel efficiency enhancement, requiring an 8% reduction in unit hydrogen production costs and a 15% reduction in equipment failure downtime by 2026.

Tendering Objectives:

Through systematic "AI + Hydrogen" consulting, deliver actionable "Digital Intelligence Hydrogen Construction Guide" and "AI Hydrogen Standard System Construction Guide" within 7 months, accompanied by digital-native factory solutions, draft standards, and demonstration project validation reports, providing top-level design and implementation leverage for the 20 billion yuan hydrogen investment in the later stage of the "14th Five-Year Plan".

II. Task Breakdown and Depth Requirements

(1) Digital Intelligence Hydrogen Construction Guide (including 3 main reports + 8 annexes)

Market and Trends: Analyze global and Chinese hydrogen supply-demand, technology pathways, and cost curves for 2025-2030, providing AI penetration rate prediction models for the four segments of production, storage, transportation, and refueling.

Vision and Architecture: Propose the "1-3-5" objectives: 1 Digital Intelligence Hydrogen Operating System (HOS), 3 major platforms (Production Intelligence, Supply Chain Intelligence, Safety Intelligence), and 5 types of demonstrations (hydrogen production plants, hydrogen storage tanks, hydrogen pipelines, hydrogen refueling stations, hydrogen vehicles); design a 4A architecture covering business, data, technology, and security, interfacing with the Group's existing "Guoneng Cloud" foundation, and clarify 42 data responsible departments and 136 data dictionaries.

Scenario Feasibility: For 9 core scenarios, including wind-solar coupled hydrogen production, liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) storage and transportation, and 70 MPa hydrogen refueling stations, complete ROI calculations for three major use cases: AI energy saving, AI diagnostics, and AI scheduling (requiring a static payback period ≤3.5 years).

Digital-Native Factory: Using the Ulanqab Green Hydrogen Project in Inner Mongolia as a prototype, deliver an overall digital twin solution:

a. a. Process side: Established a PEM electrolyzer 1D+3D coupling model to predict performance decay trends, with an error ≤3%;

b. Equipment side: Deployed an edge cloud with 5,000+ measurement points, achieving high-frequency data collection at the 100 ms level and AI-based fault prediction 24 hours in advance;

c. Logistics side: Enabled one-click traceability of green electricity-green hydrogen-carbon certificates via blockchain+AI, with automatic carbon emission factor calculation accuracy ≤0.5%.

Implementation Roadmap: Outlined 68 key milestones across three phases—"laying the foundation in 2025, scaling up in 2026, and achieving ecosystem maturity in 2027"—with a budget of 2.46 billion yuan (CAPEX 1.84 billion, OPEX 620 million).

(II) AI Hydrogen Energy Standard System Construction Guide (including 1 master volume + 30 draft standards)

Standard Framework: Adopts a "four-layer, two-domain" structure: data layer, model layer, platform layer, security layer; production domain, transaction domain; benchmarks against 55 existing domestic and overseas standards such as ISO/TC 197, IEC/TC 105, and GB/T 37244, identifying 37 gaps.

Key Standard List (Examples): "Data Classification and Coding for Hydrogen Plants," "AI Performance Evaluation Test Methods for PEM Electrolyzers," "Technical Requirements for AI Safety Early Warning Systems at Hydrogen Refueling Stations," "Blockchain-Based Certification Specifications for Green Hydrogen Carbon Footprints."

Management Approach: Defines three levels of responsibility—"group coordination, specialized company leadership, project unit implementation"; establishes a standard life cycle process: pre-research → initiation → drafting → verification → release → review, with a cycle ≤18 months; plans to set up a standards compliance testing center (proposed in Beijing Future Science & Technology City), targeting CMA certification by 2026.

(III) Alignment of Top-Level Design with Existing Plans

Integrates with 7 internal documents, including "Guohua Investment Hydrogen Energy Business '14th Five-Year' Plan" and "National Energy Group Digital Transformation Action Plan (2023-2025)," unifying indicator systems (83 KPIs);

completes 12 sets of data interface specifications with operational group platforms like "Guoneng e-Bidding" and "Smart Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain Platform," ensuring a reuse rate ≥60% for new systems.

(IV) Benchmark Demonstrations and Knowledge Transfer

Demonstration Projects:

Hydrogen Production Side: Ulanqab 10,000 t/a PEM green hydrogen plant;

Hydrogen Refueling Side: Beijing Changping Sixth Ring Road hydrogen refueling station (2 t/d).

Key Indicators:

AI energy savings ≥5% (equivalent to 1.3 million kWh/year);

fault prediction accuracy ≥90%, downtime reduction ≥15%;

standard verification coverage 100%, delivering 30 test reports.

Knowledge Transfer:

Conducted 3 sessions of "AI + Hydrogen Energy" advanced training (120 participants internally within the group), 1 international seminar (co-organized with IEA Hydrogen TCP);

Published the "National Energy Group AI Hydrogen Energy White Paper 2026", applied for ≥8 invention patents and ≥6 software copyrights.

III. List of Deliverables and Timeline

Phase 1 (0-3 months): Demand Survey Report, 4A Architecture Blueprint, Standard Framework V1.0, Detailed Design of Demonstration Project.

Phase 2 (4-5 months): Digital-Intelligent Hydrogen Energy Construction Guide (Official Version), AI Hydrogen Energy Standard System Construction Guide (Official Version), 30 Draft Standards, Digital Native Factory Implementation Plan.

Phase 3 (6-7 months): Demonstration Project Acceptance Report, White Paper, Training Materials, Intellectual Property Package, Project Summary Review.

IV. Service Term, Budget, and Commercial Terms

Service Term: 7 months after contract signing, fixed total price, consortium bids and subcontracting not accepted.

Budget: RMB 48 million yuan (including all costs for survey, development, verification, training, travel, taxes, etc.).

Payment Milestones: 10% contract advance payment; 30% upon Phase 1 review approval; 40% upon Phase 2 review approval; 20% upon final acceptance.

Liquidated Damages: 0.5% per week for key milestone delays, capped at 10%; payment for the corresponding phase may be refused if quality standards are not met.

V. Bidder Qualifications and Bid Evaluation Method

Qualifications: Independent legal entity, registered capital ≥ RMB 50 million yuan, certified with ISO 9001 and ISO 27001.

Track Record: At least 2 "digitalization or intelligentization" consulting contracts (single contract value ≥ RMB 10 million yuan) from October 2020 to present, with at least 1 involving hydrogen energy/chemicals/energy scenarios.

Team: Project Leader: Associate Senior title or above, over 10 years of experience in energy + digitalization, continuous social security payment at the bidding unit for ≥12 months; Team size ≥10 persons (including 4 Associate Seniors), core positions (architecture, AI, standards, security) must be dedicated full-time personnel, provide 12 months of social security records.

Bid Evaluation Method: Technical 70% (Understanding & Proposal 30%, Standard System 20%, Demonstration Design 10%, Implementation Assurance 10%); Commercial 15% (Quotation, Delivery Cycle, Service Commitment); Track Record & Qualifications 15%.

VI. Bidding Document Acquisition and Bid Submission Arrangements

Sale Period: 2025-10-16 09:00 to 2025-10-22 16:00 (National Energy e-Bidding Platform, selling price 700 yuan, non-refundable after sale)

Deadline for Queries: 2025-10-25 17:00

Bid Submission Deadline and Bid Opening: 2025-11-05 09:00, fully electronic bid opening, no on-site ceremony.

VII. Contact Information

Bid Inviter: Guohua Energy Investment Co., Ltd.

Address: Guohua Investment Building, No. 3 Dongzhimen South Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing

Contact: Zhen Chang 010-58157687,

Bidding Agent: China Energy Investment Group International Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd.

Address: No. 9 Yingcai North Second Street, Changping District, Beijing

Contact: Bo Meng 010-57336318,