[SMM Precious Metals Express]

China’s hydrogen energy industry is moving from policy-driven growth into a new phase of large-scale development. According to the China Hydrogen Energy Development Report 2026, by the end of 2025, China’s total hydrogen production capacity exceeded 51 million tonnes per annum, while commissioned renewable hydrogen capacity surpassed 250,000 tonnes per annum, more than doubling year-on-year. The fleet of fuel cell vehicles stood at around 32,000, with over 590 hydrogen refuelling stations completed. The rapid expansion of industrial scale raises higher requirements for supporting standards.

Researchers at TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology) recently found that optimizing the thickness of platinum coatings on bipolar plates of PEM electrolyzers can substantially cut platinum consumption while retaining electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance, offering a new technical route to lower green hydrogen production costs. The relevant study has been published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

The European Commission announced on 9 October 2026 that it has formally selected 46 strategic projects as the second batch under the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), to further strengthen Europe’s domestic capacity for extraction, processing and recycling of critical raw materials. According to the latest official list released by the EU, the newly added batch includes 5 platinum group metals (PGMs) projects. The total number of EU-based PGM strategic projects selected between 2025 and 2026 has reached 11, located in six countries: Belgium, Lithuania, Italy, Finland, Poland and Spain.