Recently, the “high-power and long-life fuel cell stack and engine technology for commercial vehicles” – a key project on “new energy vehicle (NEV)” under 2022 National Key R&D Program of China lead by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), with REFIRE Technology as the leading unit in project application, receives no objections during the publicity period.
The National Key R&D Program of China, together with the National Science and Technology Major Project, is all under the Central Finance Science and Technology Plans (in terms of special projects and funds). It is organized and implemented by the MoST, and was officially launched in February 2016. It focuses on the core competitiveness and the overall capacity for independent innovation of the industry, the strategic, fundamental and forward-looking scientific issues of national security, and the major generic technologies and products, to deliver constant support and guidance for main sectors of national economy and the society.
To implement the related national deployment and arrangement on technological innovation during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the National Key R&D Program of China initiated the key projects of “hydrogen technology” and “NEV”. In line with the implementation scheme for key projects, the “NEV” project targets at solving the key technical problems in the NEV industry, and breaking through bottleneck of core technologies in the industrial chain.
REFIRE, as the leading unit in project application, joins hands with 10 well-known enterprises and universities in the industry, including FAW Jiefang Automotive Co., Ltd., Shanxi Automobile Group Co., Ltd., SPIC Hydrogen Energy Company, Sunrise Power Co., Ltd., Tongji University and Beijing Institute of Technology to apply to the “High-power and long-life fuel cell stack and engine technology for commercial vehicles” – a key “NEV” project of MoST in 2022, to consistently guide the way to break the core technological problems in the industry.
This jointly-applied key project, centering around the problems faced by fuel cells of commercial vehicles in terms of system efficiency, life of fuel cell stacks, extreme environments with high temperature, high humidity, high irradiation and high salt density, and cost of supply chain, mainly works on technologies for design and manufacturing of the high-efficiency and durable fuel cell stack and engine. Its specific research items cover: the high-efficiency and long-life gas and hydrogen supply, water and heat management, DC/DC among other core parts which are suitable for the engine installed with high-power fuel cell of heavy vehicle; multi-power module control technology for the engine installed with high-power fuel cell of heavy vehicle; matching, integration and system simulation technologies for power system installed with fuel cells of heavy vehicle; research on testing and evaluation methods of cold start, environmental adaptability (high and low temperature, high altitude) and EMC of the engine installed with high-power fuel cell, and establishment of specifications for rapid evaluation of the engine installed with high-power fuel cell of heavy vehicle; membrane electrode, bipolar plate and matching technology of long-life fuel cell stack, highly-reliable integration and control technology of high-power fuel cell stack; and equipment technology of fuel cell stack for heavy vehicle and engine mass manufacturing.
Small steps lead to great progress. After 8 years of development, REFIRE Group has grown into one of the few hydrogen technology enterprises in the industry that connect the whole chain of materials, components and products and realize the independent development and large-scale production of key components such as fuel cell stack, membrane electrode assembly, bipolar plate, hydrogen circulation system, and boost converter. The Group has research centers in Shanghai and Vancouver, owns the industry-leading R&D hardware, and boasts over 100 sets of advanced instruments and equipment, including the most sophisticated fuel cell lab in China, a complete test and detection platform from parts, systems to finished vehicle, a multi-power system test bench, a vibration test system, a salt spray and composite salt spray box, a walk-in environmental chamber and EMC hydrogen lab. In December 2021, REFIRE Testing Center was certified by CNAS, indicating that REFIRE’s hardware, management level and testing technology meet the requirements of the national and international quality management system. In 2022, REFIRE Technology has been credited as the National Enterprise Technology Center, one of the top and most influential technological innovation platforms jointly awarded by the NDRC, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Taxation. This marks the government recognition of REFIRE Technology in pursuing the long-term development, improving products, upgrading technology and enhancing sustainable competitiveness in technology; Meanwhile, REFIRE Group’s determined endeavors also laid a solid foundation for the implementation of this national key project.
All the ten participating units led by REFIRE Technology, on the basis of pulling together their respective advantages in R&D hardware, academic accumulation and professional talent, and under the special support from MoST, will accelerate the progress and high-quality completion of all the indicators of the project, strengthen researches on core technologies from materials and components to products, and further expand the commercial application scale of hydrogen fuel cell technology in the heavy vehicle fields in China.
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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