Interview | Dr. Fu Yu, Chairman of Jihong Hydrogen Energy

At the 6th International Conference on Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCVC 2021), Dr. Fu Yu, Chairman of Shanghai Jicheng Hydrogen Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jihong Hydrogen Energy"), accepted an interview with China Hydrogen Energy Network.

Questions & Answers

At this FCVC conference, what new products and technologies does JiHuang bring?

Fu Yu: The first one is our 160 kilowatt single reactor, (single reactor power) as far as I know, this is a record, before our single reactor was about 143 kilowatts, after optimization, it has reached 160 kilowatts, which can match 120 kilowatts. Even higher systems.

According to the introduction of the Ji Chong Hydrogen Energy Public Account: The "MH" series of the latest hydrogen fuel cell stacks at the exhibition have a rated power of 160kW, which is the largest single-stack power in the fuel cell field at this stage, with a bare-stack power density of 4.7kW/L, -39° C without auxiliary start.

In addition, we also brought a model of the entire production line-the first-generation 200 MW production line, which is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in July.

What are the considerations for the development of high-power reactors in the future?

Fu Yu: High-power stacks are a hot spot in the industry, but also a difficulty, mainly in the following two aspects:

The first is the design capability of the stack. Simply increasing the number of sections cannot completely solve the problem. The more the number of nodes, the more difficult it is to control the consistency, and the consistency will have a fatal impact on the life reliability of the stack. Therefore, there is a limit to increasing the number of sections, because the product must take into account both performance and life reliability.

The other is the realization ability of the entire product, the integrated design of the entire stack: including the stamping, welding, and coating of the bipolar plate. Each process must first meet the requirements of high quality, and at the same time, meet the requirements of consistency. The requirements for equipment and equipment are very high.

In this industry, especially the metal bipolar plate industry, the domestic industrial chain is not very complete, and there are not many suppliers with core accumulation. Our advantage is the integration of Shenzhen Zhongwei and Changzhou Yimai, which are industry leaders in the subdivision of metal plate welding and metal plate coating. They all have 10 to 20 years of experience in the industry, and their crafts and equipment are Independently developed, these have been fully verified by benchmark customers in the industry, so we can better guarantee the life and reliability of our products.

As for product upgrades, we have now completed the design and test verification of the second-generation product 290, and the core components have been developed. It is expected that the development of a 200-kilowatt stack prototype will be completed before the end of this year.

It is understood that in addition to vehicles, fuel cell stacks also have many applications in the direction of marine and backup power sources. In these respects, what are the considerations of Jicheng Hydrogen Energy?

Fu Yu: We have the ability to customize development, and we can develop corresponding stacks for different scenarios. This is our advantage-systematic positive development.

The first one, in the marine field, our core team participated in the entire development process of China's first fuel cell ship, so we still have a better understanding of the entire system. We currently plan to complete the development of at least one ship this year.

Second, in the context of dual carbon, fuel cells will have greater applications in the energy field. In the energy system, we mainly condensed three directions: The first is a megawatt-level distributed power station, which can form a good supplement to the grid. The second is a 100-kilowatt-level combined heat and power supply. Larger scales such as communities, hospitals, and big data centers may require a 100-kilowatt-level combined heat and power supply for one building. The third is the backup power supply, such as distributed small power supply and emergency power supply, which can form a good supplement to the power grid, and they are all incremental markets. We have done a lot of work in these three markets, and there will be demonstration projects this year. At the same time, we have formed a one-to-one strategic cooperation agreement with a national energy group: a two-megawatt power station and a 500-kilowatt combined heat and power project have entered an internal project.

Does Ji Chong Hydrogen Energy consider deploying ahead of schedule in foreign markets, or grabbing share?

Fu Yu: We are currently based on the domestic market first, but the space for foreign markets is still very large, and in terms of product cost-effectiveness and other aspects, I think we still have certain advantages.

We are now advancing the project cooperation with a German company. Later, we will gradually develop foreign markets, but we will not go directly to a large number of layouts. At present, our main energy is still in the country.

About Ji Chong Hydrogen Energy

Ji Chong Hydrogen Energy was established in December 2018. It is a technology company focusing on R&D and industrialization of fuel cells with independent intellectual property rights. Jihong Hydrogen is positioned as a supplier of hydrogen fuel cell stack solutions for vehicles, and its business covers customized development, sales and technical services of battery stacks. At the beginning of its establishment, Jicheng Hydrogen Energy took “being the Chinese’s own stack” as the company’s mission. Now it has mastered the domestic leading metal plate industry chain, and the fully independently developed MH170 fuel cell metal plate stack has achieved domestic substitution. The performance is at the leading level in the industry.