On December 13, the Boosting the High-quality Development of the Hydrogen Industry & Joint Announcement Conference of Key Hydrogen Achievements, themed with “Hydrogen Opportunities Bring up New Development” and jointly held by REFIRE Group and CHINT Group was opened at Hangzhou Park of CHINT Group.
At the conference, four key hydrogen achievements were announced, including green hydrogen manufacturing equipment & megawatt-level hydrogen power generation system, PRISMA XXII new generation of high-power fuel cell system, SIRIUS-E high-power fuel cell stack module, and M-Pack SiC DC/DC converter. Taiqingchen Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred as “Taiqingchen”) jointly established by REFIRE Group and CHINT Group launched the green hydrogen manufacturing equipment joint lab project with Shenzhen Kylin Technology Co., Ltd. With the launch the new products, the upstream & downstream enterprises signed a series of strategic cooperation agreements on the application of energies, scenarios, and products at the conference, which will facilitate the coordinated development of the hydrogen industry.
At the conference, leaders from Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Economy and Information Technology Department of Zhejiang, Hangzhou Municipal Government, Wenzhou Municipal Government, and Jiaxing Municipal People’s Government, experts and scholars from Chinese Academy of Engineering, Tongji University, Zhejiang University among other scientific research institutions, China Hydrogen Alliance among other industry associations, as well as FAW Jiefang, Sinopec Marketing Zhejiang Company, Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Company, Zhejiang Longyuan New Energy, Zhejiang Casnovo Materials Co., Ltd., CLP Xinyuan (Langfang) Electric Group Co., Ltd., Taiji Power, Shandong Dongyue Future Hydrogen Energy Material Co., Ltd., Jiping New Energy among other upstream and downstream enterprises and institutes of the hydrogen industry all got together to witness the win-win combination of CHINT and REFIRE Group. This cooperation will accelerate the construction of hydrogen ecological chain and its application, and help achieve the milestone of the high-quality development of the hydrogen industry.
The third generation of high-power fuel cell system and core parts were launched
At the conference, Lin Qi, Chairman and President of REFIRE Group, officially announced the launch of high-power fuel cell system “PRISMA XXII”.
The commercial-vehicle-level development and verification system is applied to test and verify PRISMA XXII for 66 test items under all operating conditions including high and low temperature, high humidity, vibration, longtime rating, longtime idling, and variable load. According to the test results, PRISMA XXII has realized continuous and stable output and operation under high power, has a rated output power of 220kW (expandable to 260kW); achieved continuous and stable operation under 95℃ by virtue of advanced fuel cell stack materials and technologies, intelligent hydrothermal management technologies, and CVM and EIS online diagnosis technologies; optimized the cost of the full life cycle to the maximum thanks to the cost reduction in fuel cell stacks, the industry’s best-performing hydrogen consumption: 8.42kg/100km, and 30,000h design life; and is strongly adapted to the extremely cold, and high altitude environment. Thus, vehicles with PRISMA XXII can be started under -30℃ without causing damages, and keep the power unattenuated at the altitude of 3,000 meters.
Besides PRISMA XXII, two core parts: UNILIA SIRIUS-E high-power fuel cell stack module and Pandong Electric M-Pack SiC DC/DC converter were also launched.
SIRIUS-E high-power fuel cell stack module applies new development achievements to light-duty, medium-duty and heavy-duty power demands in transportation, as well as the application demands in multiple scenarios including shipping, energy storage and engineering machinery on the basis of the experience drawn from technology development and engineering application for the first two generations. Now, SIRIUS-E, with a power level of 150-300kW and a design life of 30,000h, is capable of operating under 95℃, and has reduced cost by 50%. SIRIUS-E inherits extraordinary DFM (Design for Manufacturability), high flexibility in iteration and extension, and diversity in application scenarios, and applies the super-thin composite graphite plate independently developed by UNILIA, which is formed by high temperature-resistant & high-Tg resin and graphite. By virtue of this plate, the graphite bipolar plate of SIRIUS-E is as thin as 1.37mm, and the minimum thinness is up to the industry’s latest application limit of 0.25mm. SIRIUS-E also adopts the high-performance membrane electrode independently developed by UNILIA, which features 6-in-1 design integrated with single-chamber sealed electrolytic cell, and uses the domestic proton exchange membrane in mass production for the first time.
M-Pack SiC DC/DC converter is the third generation of DC/DC platform product independently developed by Pandong Electric, a DC/DC product provider for fuel cell vehicles with the longest kilometrage and the largest number of vehicles loaded. It can meet the application demand of 150~300kW fuel cell system and applies the deep integration design. This makes its volume density up to 7.5kW/L, and thus its matched fuel cell system is 40% smaller than the previous generation, significantly promoting its power density. The forward-looking application of SiC semiconductor and HF magnetic materials achieves ≥98.5% peak conversion efficiency in the high efficiency zone, greatly improving life and safety of the fuel cell system.
“Energy conversion in heavy trucks is of great significance to carbon emission reduction in transportation, and fuel cell is also the optimal power option for now. However, in the journey to truly realize the demands of heavy load, long battery life, high speed, good economic returns in the whole life cycle and so on for heavy trucks installed with fuel cells under all conditions, there are still many challenges, for instance, heat dissipation of high-power products. PRISMA XXII, new generation of high-power fuel cell stack module, and high-power DC/DC products are specially designed to address the pain points in actual application. They stand out for their low heat dissipation (operating temperature: 95℃), high power (220-260kW), low cost (reduced by 50%), low hydrogen consumption (8.42kg/100km for heavy trucks), high reliability (commercial vehicle-level development and verification system), and long life (30,000 hours, 1 million kilometers). They are real “all-rounders”, and can truly create value for customers.” Robin Lin said, following the application in transportation, REFIRE Group is cooperating with CHINT and other relevant partners to explore hydrogen technology application in green hydrogen manufacturing equipment, energy storage & power generation among other fields, with the aim to further connect the whole hydrogen industry chain from manufacturing, storage, transportation, and fueling to application.
REFIRE Group is committed to working together with all partners to expand the business in green hydrogen manufacturing equipment and energy storage & power generation
At the conference, REFIRE Group and CHINT launched the megawatt-level hydrogen power generation system and green hydrogen manufacturing equipment, marking the win-win combination of an industry-leading clean energy solution provider and a world-leading hydrogen technology company. The two parties integrate their respective technology and business advantages to make every effort to jointly break new ground for the green hydrogen manufacturing equipment and hydrogen power generation business.
According to the introduction of key technologies and products at the conference, the megawatt-level hydrogen power generation system applies CHINT’s mature electric solution and REFIRE Group’s latest fuel cell technology, and features a parallelable and expandable power. It is now widely used in wind, solar and hydrogen energy storage and power generation, peak load shifting in power plant, stand-by power, heat and power supply and other scenarios, and has outstanding performance in safety, reliability, economy and intelligence.
Its superior safety can be attributed to the full-protection ESD, separate layers for hydrogen, electricity, air and water, air flow passage with independent reaction, independent chamber for hydrogen areas, positive pressure-type explosion proof, as well as other technologies. Thanks to the functionally-safe PLC, extremely corrosion-resistant graphite bipolar plate, and vehicle-level parts adaptable to the -40~125℃ environment, the system features the world-leading reliability. Moreover, it is equipped with the cloud control platform, which helps realize the DCS-enabled remote scheduling and unattended operation, thus contributing to the high degree of intelligence.
In the meantime, Taiqingchen launched the green hydrogen manufacturing equipment joint lab project with Shenzhen Kylin Technology Co., Ltd., aiming at the R&D, test, optimization and iteration of the new-generation alkaline electrolyzer, and the development of control system. With the progress of the project, CHINT and REFIRE Group will officially step into the field of green hydrogen manufacturing equipment, and deepen the coordinated development in technology and application.
Conclusion of several strategic cooperation agreements helps connect the whole hydrogen industry chain from materials to application
At the conference, five cooperation agreements were signed among upstream, midstream and downstream enterprises in the industry, concerning multiple themes including hydrogen application in transportation, green hydrogen manufacturing equipment, green power and green hydrogen industry, hydrogen storage for grid side, and hydrogen industrial chain. CHINT and REFIRE Group respond favorably to the national strategy of carbon peak and carbon neutrality by building an ecosystem for the hydrogen industry to boost the deep fusion and high-quality development-based layout and planning of the hydrogen industry, and facilitate the implementation of such layout and planning.
Zheng Jinyang, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering & Dean of Zhejiang University Hydrogen Energy Institute, and Ming Pingwen, professor of Tongji University & leader of the National 14th Five-Year Plan Hydrogen Technology General Expert Group exchanged views on and discussed the collaborative innovation enabling high-quality development of the hydrogen industry and the innovation progress of hydrogen energy and fuel cell in China.
Robin Lin said, the strategic cooperation between CHINT Group and REFIRE Group has been gradually deepened. CHINT Group has been engaged in intelligent electric and green energy technology industry for 38 years and always followed the innovative development path. Meanwhile, REFIRE Group has now developed into a world-leading hydrogen technology company. The integration of industrial resources and scientific research advantages of the parties enables them to join hands in a new journey to help achieve the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. They focus on two main lines of “hydrogen power + transportation” and “hydrogen power + energy” to connect and build up the whole hydrogen industry chain. Today, the first technological achievement produced by two sides — hydrogen power generation system was launched, and has also been put into actual operation.
Nan Cunhui, Chairman of CHINT Group, said that the layout of green hydrogen manufacturing equipment and hydrogen power generation is highly consistent with CHINT’s industrial landscape in the green and low-carbon field, functions as an important step for CHINT to expand its business in the hydrogen industry, and also creates new application scenarios and enlarges development potential for the clean energies. In the next step, driven by the strong support from the government and the society, and the joints efforts of all partners of the industrial ecologic chain, CHINT will strengthen its cooperation with REFIRE on joint research institute for innovative application, apply and promote the hydrogen corridor, demonstrate and promote the distributed hydrogen power generation system, accelerate the pilot applications in bus, heavy truck and forklift truck, and push forward the manufacturing of green-power-to-hydrogen equipment, fuel cell system and key parts in industrial parks of Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Jiaxing, etc. The aim is to help Zhejiang Province supplement, extend and strengthen the hydrogen industrial chain, boost Zhejiang to fully become a national demonstration city, and contribute to achieving the independent innovation of hydrogen technology, the leading application scale in China, as well as the high-quality clustering development of the hydrogen industry.
About REFIRE
Headquartered in Shanghai with a footprint spanning several global markets, REFIRE is the world’s leading deployer of commercial hydrogen fuel cell technologies. The company specialises in the design, testing, prototyping, application engineering, and production of electrolyser products and integrated fuel cell systems for buses, trucks, specialised vehicles, power machines, stationary power and decentralised grid power products.
As of 2023 Q1, REFIRE fuel cell technologies and products are powering over 4,200 fuel cell vehicles (FCEV) in daily use in 20+ cities around the globe. Combined vehicle mileage exceeds 145 million kilometres.
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