Tomorrow Hydrogen Energy | In the spirit of scientific research + craftsmanship, we will gather sand into towers and accumulate bits and pieces on the path of independent research and development

At present, the entire hydrogen energy industry still needs a long process to move from its current status to industrialization and marketization. Enterprises should gather sand into towers and accumulate bits and pieces on the path of independent research and development, and carry out lean research and development, lean management and lean manufacturing in the spirit of scientific research + craftsmanship, so as to improve and enhance product quality. With such development, China's fuel cell industry will surely play a pivotal and absolute leading position in the development of global hydrogen energy.

——Anhui Tomorrow Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

What is the current position of tomorrow's hydrogen energy in China's hydrogen energy industry? Which link or link is the main business in the hydrogen energy industry chain?

Tomorrow Hydrogen Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Tomorrow Hydrogen) was established in 2017. It is a national high-tech enterprise focusing on the research and development, production, sales and service of fuel cell stacks and systems, mainly engaged in fuel cell stacks, The research and development in the fields of system integration control and key components mainly includes five key components: membrane electrode (MEA), metal bipolar plate, fuel cell stack, fuel cell system and fuel cell test equipment and other independent core technologies and industrialization Ability, and is committed to providing first-class solutions for hydrogen energy and fuel cell applications.

In the face of the current situation where the overall scale of the hydrogen energy industry is not yet abundant, the tactical market competition is intensified, and the total market volume is uncertain, what is your view on hydrogen energy tomorrow? In this external environment, where is your company's competitive advantage?

In a brand new field, the early high cost is inevitable. High cost is not a problem for China, but a problem for the entire world. The fundamental reason is that the industry is in the early stage of development, that is, high cost and poor performance. It must go through this stage.

Tomorrow's hydrogen energy company's competitive advantages are mainly reflected in:

1. Have completely independent intellectual property rights. Tomorrow, Hydrogen Energy has applied for as many as 110 patents, and has completely independent intellectual property rights including key technologies such as fuel cell stacks, fuel cell power systems, core components and test systems.

2. The product technology has reached the domestic leading and international advanced level. Tomorrow, the volumetric specific power of hydrogen fuel cells will exceed 3.0kW/L, which is close to the international advanced level. 30kW, 40KW, 50KW, 60kW, 80kW, 100kW stacks and systems have been widely used in many projects such as Foton, Ankai, Chery, FAW, Dongfeng, CRRC, China Railway Rail Transit.

3. Have a well-established first-class R&D team. Undertook the "Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Energy National Key R&D Project" of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the membrane electrode mass production industrialization technology and equipment project, the "Three Heavy and One Innovation" major project in Anhui Province, the Anhui Province Knock Project, and the Anhui Province "High-level scientific and technological talents" Team", national high-tech enterprises, provincial and municipal industrial design centers, applied for more than 110 national patents, and took the lead in overcoming a large number of industrial technical problems;

4. The manufacturing technology has reached the domestic leading and international advanced level. It is the only domestic solution enterprise that takes the lead in completing the stamping, welding, assembly, testing and other process equipment of 10,000 sets of independent core components.

Not long ago, Tomorrow Hydrogen released a new generation of independent technology 80kW stack. It is understood that this 80kW stack, which is known as the “vehicle-grade hydrogen core”, has three major technical characteristics: First, the life span is> 8000 hours, which is close to the international leading level; second, it achieves cold start and stable operation at -30 ℃ ; Third, low energy consumption and high performance, the power density exceeds 3.0kW/L, and the actual vehicle running hydrogen consumption is 4.5-5.5kg/100 kilometers. What do you think the emergence of this stack will have on the fuel cell market?

The core technology of Tomorrow's hydrogen power stack comes from the National Institute of Chemical Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is the national scientific research unit of fuel cells. It completed the development of vehicle prototypes as early as 2013. In 2017, Tomorrow Hydrogen Corporation began its industrial application.

In 2019, Tomorrow's hydrogen energy independent technology 60kW stacks will be rolled off the production line. On September 25, 2020, Tomorrow Hydrogen's new generation of independent technology 80kW stacks rolled off the production line. This 80kW stack, which is known as the "vehicle-grade hydrogen core", has rolled off the production line, with a volumetric specific power exceeding 3.0kW/L, reaching the domestic leading and internationally advanced level. The launch of this product will further prove that the independent stack R&D technology and mass production process have achieved substantial breakthroughs in industrialization, the manufacturing cost has been effectively controlled, and the core performance indicators are close to the international advanced level, marking the mass production of metal plate fuel cell stacks with independent technology. The technical level has reached a new level.

Tomorrow Hydrogen Energy's new generation of independent technology 80kW stack

Not long ago, the Central Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Development and Reform Commission, and the National Energy Administration (hereinafter referred to as the "Five Departments") jointly issued the "Notice on the Development of Fuel Cell Vehicle Demonstration Applications." During the demonstration period, the five departments will adopt the method of "reward for compensation". The reward funds will be coordinated by local governments and enterprises for the industrialization of key core technologies of fuel cell vehicles, the introduction of talents and team building, and the demonstration and application of new models and technologies. It shall not be used to support investment projects in the production of fuel cell vehicles and the construction of hydrogen refueling infrastructure. What kind of impact do you think this measure will have on the fuel cell industry?

This is the direction and the signal. The domestic hydrogen energy policy environment is getting warmer and the policy orientation is gradually becoming obvious. The entire hydrogen energy industry is ushering in unprecedented development opportunities. However, it is also necessary to prevent individual companies from applying industrial policies for profit-making and speculation. They must follow the objective laws of industrial development, practice basic skills, reduce impetuous style, and develop products with outstanding performance, reliability and durability, starting from customer needs to customer satisfaction.

China’s automotive fuel cell technology started late, but its market potential is huge. China is the world’s largest automobile producer and the world’s largest consumer of automobiles. In the context of the current Sino-US relations, what do you think of China’s fuel cell industry? What role will it play in the development of global hydrogen energy?

The technological advancement between my country and the representative countries in the hydrogen energy industry is not much different, but there is a certain gap in the level of industrialization, the promotion of commercialization is limited, the level of industrialization of key raw materials and parts is insufficient, and some rely on imports, and the foundation is not solid enough . Enterprises should gather sand into towers, accumulate bit by bit, and consolidate the foundation on the path of independent research and development. At present, the entire hydrogen energy industry still needs a long process from the current status to industrialization and marketization. This process is a process of continuous advancement. Enterprises must follow this law and carry out lean in the spirit of scientific research + craftsmanship. Research and development, lean management and lean manufacturing, scientific use of management tools, to achieve the improvement and promotion of product quality. With such development, China's fuel cell industry will surely play a pivotal and absolute leading position in the development of global hydrogen energy.

In new energy vehicles, what do you think is the relationship between pure electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles? In the next 10 years, will the industrial ecology be "three pillars" or "outstanding"?

As early as the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, my country's new energy vehicle development "three vertical and three horizontal" overall route was put forward for the first time. The so-called "three verticals" refer to the three vehicle technologies of fuel cell vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and pure electric vehicles. On November 2, 2020, the General Office of the State Council issued the "New Energy Vehicle Development Plan (2021-2035)" to further deepen the "three vertical and three horizontal" R&D layout.

The three technologies will continue to break through their respective core technical bottlenecks in their respective fields, and continue to give full play to their respective advantages in their respective fields to serve the public. However, hydrogen energy has absolute advantages in terms of conversion efficiency, environmental adaptability, environmental friendliness, and abundance of gas sources, and it has been hailed as the "ultimate energy source" worldwide.