The cost of electrolytic water for hydrogen production will continue to decline in the future, and the industry has great potential for development.
Hydrogen obtained by electrolysis of water is of high purity and is the most promising way to provide green hydrogen energy in the future.
In recent years, hydrogen energy is gradually becoming one of the important energy carriers for global low-carbon development, and the application fields of hydrogen energy are gradually expanding to scenarios such as electricity, transportation and construction. According to the different sources of raw materials, hydrogen production technology can be divided into four categories: fossil raw material hydrogen production, chemical raw material hydrogen production, industrial tail gas hydrogen production and electrolytic water hydrogen production. Electrolysis of water is the cleanest form of hydrogen production. Hydrogen production by electrolysis of water is a form of hydrogen production in which water molecules are decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by electrochemical reaction at electrodes when direct current is applied to an electrolytic cell filled with electrolyte. Hydrogen obtained by electrolysis of water is of high purity and is the most promising way to provide green hydrogen energy in the future.
At present, fossil fuel energy is the main hydrogen production method in the market. Under the energy structure of China, which is rich in coal, poor in oil and little in gas, domestic hydrogen energy mainly comes from coal hydrogen production, which accounts for about 65% of hydrogen production capacity, while electrolytic water hydrogen production is limited by the high cost, accounting for less than 3%. In the future, the electrolytic water hydrogen industry can not only reduce the energy consumption of electrolysis process by developing PEM and SOEC technologies, but also develop low-cost hydrogen production by relying on photovoltaic and wind power.
According to the "2022-2026 China Hydrogen from Electrolysis Industry Market Monitor and Future Development Prospects Research Report" released by Newscast Industry Research Center, the global average cost of hydrogen from electrolytic water from renewable energy sources is 5.5 USD/kg in 2020, and the average cost is expected to drop to 2.2 USD/kg by 2030, reducing the gap between the cost of hydrogen from fossil fuel energy The market of electrolytic water hydrogen production will keep expanding, and it is expected that the production capacity of electrolytic water hydrogen production in China will reach 3.81 million tons in 2030, and the market size will reach 110.1 billion yuan, with great potential for industry development.
The upstream of electrolytic water hydrogen production industry chain includes basic raw material supply and hydrogen production, including graphite bipolar plate, composite bipolar plate, high-temperature composite proton exchange membrane, nanostructured catalyst and other raw materials, as well as electrolytic water hydrogen production technology; the midstream is hydrogen storage and transportation and fuel cell system, including hydrogen storage and transportation equipment such as hydrogen recirculation device, hydrogen storage bottle, hydrogen supply pipeline and proton exchange membrane fuel cell, phosphoric acid fuel cell, etc.; the fuel cell is a fuel cell. The downstream is the application of hydrogen fuel cells, mainly in transportation, industry, construction, military and other fields.