The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and Shandong recently signed a hydrogen energy application demonstration framework agreement, focusing on construction of one hydrogen energy high-speed road, two hydrogen energy ports, three hydrogen energy popular science bases, four hydrogen energy parks and five hydrogen energy communities – which will result in increasing downstream demand, a key stimulus for chemical firms to invest, especially when making extra investment, for example, in hydrogen purification equipment – necessary for purifing by-product hydrogen to produce hydrogen fuel cells, and generally costing a company around RMB30 million.

   New technologies help enterprises solve existing problems, but they need to be tested and improved continuously, as a negligible error in small-scale application may become a safety hazard after being widely used. Demonstration application plays a role in establishing a testing ground for hydrogen energy related technologies, and may bring new innovation.