The State Power Investment Corporation Ltd (SPIC) has broken ground on a hydrogen R&D center and production plant in the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone, or WHDZ – located in Wuhan, in Central China's Hubei province – according to local media reports.
The cumulative investment in the first and second phases of the project is reportedly 7 billion yuan ($1.08 billion).
The first phase will cost a projected 3 billion yuan. It will build a fuel cell proton membrane research and development platform, carry out research and development and pilot trials of various series of proton exchange membranes – as well as build a proton membrane production line, fuel cell stack production line and fuel cell power system production line.
At present, construction is reportedly progressing smoothly in the WHDZ.
The R&D building, production plant and office building used for the proton membrane production line project have been developed and will be officially opened in July.
SPIC is a State-owned backbone enterprise directly managed by the central government. It is one of China's five largest power generation groups and the world's largest solar power generation company.
In May 2017, SPIC established a subsidiary in WHDZ – SPIC Hydrogen Energy Co – an enterprise engaged in the technological innovation of the hydrogen energy industry and the development and manufacturing of high-precision products.
In July last year, SPIC established Wuhan Green Power Hydrogen Energy Technology Co in the development zone, to back the construction of the hydrogen energy industry base.
