The Zhitong Finance App learned that on April 16, Sichuan Province held a work conference to further promote the development and promotion and application of the entire green hydrogen industry chain. The conference revealed a signal that Sichuan will adopt unconventional maximum and accurate support for the hydrogen energy industry, be application-oriented, give full play to its resource advantages, break through stuck points and blockages, and promote the high-quality development of the entire green hydrogen industry chain. Affected by this news, the hydrogen energy sector of Hong Kong stocks rose. As of yesterday's close, Yihuatong (02402) had risen more than 17%. At one point, it had risen 44.58% to HK$42 during the intraday period, Beijing Electromechanical (00187) rose more than 13%, Shanghai Electric (02727) rose more than 10%, and Dongfang Electric (01072) rose 8.3%.

Relevant officials from the Department of Transportation said that the next step will be to actively explore policy space, step up guidance, explore free highway fees for hydrogen energy vehicles, encourage the city people's government not to allow hydrogen energy trucks to travel in urban areas, and encourage cities that are in a position to do so to promote the upgrading of hydrogen energy equipment.

In response to the problems of the high cost of using hydrogen energy and the lack of infrastructure such as hydrogen refueling stations, relevant officials of the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission said that in the next step, Sichuan will explore the development of off-grid electrolyzed water hydrogen production, and will also promote the planning and construction of hydrogen refueling stations and charging infrastructure in an integrated manner, and subsidize the reference charging infrastructure for hydrogen refueling stations.

It is worth mentioning that after Shandong, Sichuan is also another province that followed up on the policy of exempting road fees for hydrogen energy vehicles during the year. Shandong Province announced that from March 1 this year, hydrogen vehicles driving on the Shandong Expressway and equipped with ETC packages will be temporarily exempted from charging highway tolls. The policy will be tested for 2 years.

According to CICC's opinion, if the reduction of highway tolls is extended to the whole country, it is expected to reduce the TCO of the entire life cycle cost of hydrogen energy heavy trucks, promote the increase in hydrogen energy heavy trucks, and accelerate the commercialization of the hydrogen energy industry chain.

Since this year, good news about hydrogen energy has continued. On March 22, the National Energy Administration issued the “Guiding Opinions on Energy Work 2024", which clearly states that relevant policies should be prepared to accelerate the high-quality development of the hydrogen energy industry, promote hydrogen technology innovation and industrial development in an orderly manner, steadily carry out hydrogen energy pilot demonstrations, focus on developing hydrogen production from renewable energy sources, and expand hydrogen energy application scenarios.

Furthermore, according to data from the China Hydrogen Energy Alliance Research Institute, during the 2024 local meetings, 22 provincial administrative districts included hydrogen energy in government work reports, and the number of provinces that mentioned hydrogen energy development increased year by year.

With technological progress and policy support, China's hydrogen energy industry has developed rapidly. In March 2022, the “Medium- and Long-Term Plan for the Development of the Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021-2035)”, which was designed at the top level of the hydrogen energy industry, was introduced, clarifying the energy properties of hydrogen. Under policy guidance, the hydrogen energy industry is generally thought to be expected to reach an inflection point in large-scale development around 2025.

At the same time, a number of organizations are optimistic about the future of the hydrogen energy industry. Shengang Securities said that with technological progress and policy support, China's hydrogen energy industry will usher in broader development prospects. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are expected to become an important force in the NEV market, and are expected to be the first to be used in long-haul heavy trucks, logistics and transportation.

Huatai Securities also said that the release of hydrogen energy industry policies has been accelerated recently, and the construction of a domestic hydrogen energy policy system is gradually getting closer and better. Since March 2022, China's first hydrogen energy industry top-level design plan “Medium- and Long-Term Hydrogen Energy Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)” issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, several provinces and cities in China have issued hydrogen energy-related industrial policies. Starting in 2024, hydrogen energy-related industrial policies will be released at a high frequency. China's hydrogen energy policy system has gradually improved, and the development of the entire hydrogen energy “manufacturing, storage, transportation, addition and use” industry chain is expected to accelerate. It is recommended to focus on leading targets in various industrial chain links.

However, it should be noted that according to China Automobile Association data, the cumulative sales volume of domestic hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in 2023 was 5,508 units, an increase of 64% over the previous year. However, sales of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the first quarter of this year were only 796 units, a year-on-year growth rate of 16.9%. According to Haitong International's analysis, global hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sales fell 30% in 2023 due to factors such as the cost performance ratio of pure electric vehicles that still need to be improved, and short-term market demand may be suppressed.

Related concept stocks:

Yihuatong (02402): In 2023, the company will actively promote the implementation of development strategies and business goals, and continue to increase fuel cell technology industrialization research and marketing efforts. According to Guoxin Securities tracking and monitoring, in 2024, the total installed capacity of domestic hydrogen fuel cell systems was 42.35 MW, an increase of 70% over the previous year. Among them, Yihuatong accounts for 27% of the market share, ranking first.

Beijing Electromechanical Co., Ltd. (00187): Jingcheng Co., Ltd. mainly manufactures gas storage and transportation equipment and is currently cooperating with major car manufacturers to further expand the gas storage and transportation market. The company said that the 70 MPa high-pressure aluminum liner carbon fiber fully wrapped composite gas cylinders (hydrogen storage cylinders) produced by the company have been used in batches in the field of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and fuel cell backup power supplies.

CGN New Energy (01811): CGN has deployed hydrogen energy multi-scenario application projects in several provinces. Among them, the Ningxia Lingwu 1 million kilowatt photovoltaic off-grid hydrogen production project (included in the third batch of major bases in the country) and the Hami 1 million kilowatt photovoltaic hydrogen production project (600,000 kilowatts in the first phase) have obtained construction targets. The planned 3 million kilowatt wind hydrogen to methanol project is expected to be completed in 2024.

Jinyuan Hydrogenation (02502): In June 2023, Jinyuan Hydrogen Energy signed a cooperation agreement with the committee designated by the government to coordinate matters relating to the Zhengzhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone. The agreement states that Jinma Energy must establish a project company in the Zhengzhou High-tech Zone. The project company plans to build 15 gas stations equipped with hydrogenation facilities in the Zhengzhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone within the next three to five years.