2019 is considered the first year of the hydrogen fuel cell industry.

Different from the "cold" of electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have become sturdy.

According to data released by the China Automobile Association: In 2019, the production and sales of new energy vehicles, mainly electric vehicles, were 1.242 million and 1.206 million, respectively, down 2.3% and 4.0% year-on-year, the first year-on-year decline in the past decade.

China's fuel cell vehicles produced and sold 2,833 and 2,737 fuel cell vehicles in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 85.5% and 79.2% respectively. In December 2019 alone, the production and sales of fuel cell vehicles in China were 1,407 and 1,400 respectively, accounting for 50% of the annual production and sales.

Although in terms of absolute numbers, the production and sales of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are far from that of electric vehicles, in the overall "winter" market environment of the automotive industry, the flames brought by hydrogen fuel cells make this winter more warm. .

The fuse that detonated this round of industry boom was a visit to Japan by Premier Li Keqiang in May 2018.

At that time, accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Li Keqiang inspected Toyota Motor Corporation's relevant parts factory in Hokkaido, Japan. Li Keqiang saw Toyota's first-generation hydrogen fuel cell vehicle MIRAI here, and asked about the cruising range of the MIRAI and e-Palette concept cars.

"The spring of China's hydrogen energy industry is coming." Many people predicted. After this visit to Japan, it has aroused the attention of many media and people to fuel cell vehicles, and has spawned a group of market testers: It is reported that before 2018, there were only less than 100 domestic companies engaged in hydrogen fuel cell. In the second half of 2018, "0" was added to the number of companies.

In 2019, its popularity is even stronger than before.

On March 15, 2019, the second meeting of the 13th National People's Congress came to an end. The "Government Work Report" after deliberation supplemented the content of "promoting the construction of charging, hydrogenation and other facilities". It also means that the national level has begun to attach importance to the construction of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle infrastructure.

As the "chip" of the fuel cell, the membrane electrode's quality determines the performance and life of the fuel cell. However, the autonomy and industrialization of membrane electrode technology has always been a "stuck neck" problem that restricts the development of my country's hydrogen energy industry.

It is reported that the cost of membrane electrodes occupies 70% of the fuel cell stack and 35% of the fuel cell power system. For a long time, the core material membrane electrode used in the fuel cell vehicle market has mainly relied on imports.

In recent years, with the continuous progress of domestic technology, more and more domestic membrane electrode companies have begun to flood the industry, and the weight of domestic membrane electrodes is increasing. Some insiders predict that the domestic market share of membrane electrodes is expected to exceed 30% in 2020.

The increase in the share of domestic membrane electrodes is largely due to the increase in the degree of stack autonomy, especially in 2019, the domestic self-owned brand of stacks has achieved a counterattack. GGII statistics show that in 2019, the shipments of domestic independent technology fuel cell stack manufacturers have increased significantly, and the power shipments of independent technology stacks accounted for 58% (the statistical scope includes the number of stacks shipped in the form of systems, direct Rate is calculated as 80%), an increase of 30.40% over 2018.

In this context, domestic membrane electrodes are also stepping up to expand production capacity. According to public data, 5 membrane electrode production lines will be built in China in 2019, with an overall planned production capacity of more than 350,000 square meters per year. As of December 30, 2019, there are 2 membrane electrode production lines under construction in China, with a production capacity of approximately 150,000 square meters per year.

From the perspective of market size, GGII predicts that by 2025, the market demand for hydrogen fuel cell membrane electrodes in China's automotive sector is expected to reach 2.3 billion yuan.

In the development of hydrogen energy vehicles in my country, a bottleneck that cannot be ignored is the high cost. Among the key factors affecting costs, backward manufacturing technology and unstable manufacturing quality such as bipolar plates directly result in high operation and maintenance costs.

From the perspective of fuel cell preparation technology, the survey found that although the domestic fuel cell industry has developed for many years, the experience of membrane electrode industrialization has not yet matured, the overall preparation level is not efficient, and many technological difficulties still need to be broken through. However, this situation is gradually changing with the progress of domestic membrane electrode preparation technology, especially the emergence of some domestic membrane electrode equipment enterprises has played a vital role in improving the preparation process.

In 2019, Longshen Robotics developed the country's first hydrogen energy membrane electrode automated production line. As the first "crab-eating" enterprise in the domestic membrane electrode automation production line, it took the lead in the field of hydrogen energy equipment automation. Behind this is Longshen's two-year production line process exploration.

It is reported that as early as the end of 2017, due to an accidental opportunity, in the process of solving the problem of manual fitting for customers, Longshen Robot began to contact and understand hydrogen energy, and the layout began in May 2018.

Currently, Longshen's hydrogen energy membrane electrode automated production line has been applied in some enterprises and scientific research units. The production line includes slurry preparation, carbon paper hydrophobic pretreatment line, CCM double-sided direct coating line/GDL coating roll press line, CCM cutting/frame film cutting/GDL cutting equipment, MEA five-in-one/seven All-in-one bonding equipment, size inspection/defect inspection/air tightness inspection equipment, etc.

The biggest feature of the Longshen Robotic Hydrogen Energy Membrane Electrode Automated Production Line is to realize flexible production and fully automated production capacity. This is undoubtedly a major change for fuel cell manufacturing technology.

"The MEA fully automated production line reduces manual participation in the production process, improves product quality, and ensures product consistency. Among them, the coating machine solves the problem of double-sided direct coating and swelling." Longshen Robotics Central South Division General Manager, Hydrogen Energy Sector The person in charge Ding Yanchun said.

It is worth mentioning that after the domestic membrane electrode coating process has experienced the first generation of "double-sided transfer" and the second generation of "cathodic direct coating anode transfer", its process still has room for development and improvement, and its efficiency Higher double-sided direct coating process is considered to be the mainstream direction in the future, and it will be quickly promoted within 1 to 2 years.

Compared with the relatively mature production and process routes in the 3C and automotive fields, the automation of hydrogen energy equipment in the initial stage of exploration is even more difficult to customize.

Long Shen had a more profound experience in the process of "crossing the river by feeling the stones". "The MEA production process is different for each company. There is no standard process route in the industry, and everyone is trying it. The same is true for bipolar plates, and even some testing equipment does not have corresponding standards."

Some people in the industry have pointed out that the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle field, which is the first to be industrialized around 2050, is expected to generate trillions of market space. With the expansion of application fields, hydrogen energy-related industries have broad room for growth.

From upstream hydrogen production, midstream hydrogen storage to downstream applications, hydrogen energy equipment covers a wide range. Longshen robots mainly start from their own advantages and focus on the layout of production equipment such as MEA, bipolar plates, and stacks, as well as fuel cells and System test equipment.

Behind the trillion-dollar market, the layout of Longshen Robotics in the field of hydrogen energy equipment also benefits from the rapid development of Foshan's hydrogen energy industry. In the past ten years, as a traditional manufacturing town, Foshan’s hydrogen energy industry has started from scratch, and has gradually formed a complete industrial chain from hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, hydrogenation to parts and vehicle manufacturing, and has taken the lead in commercial demonstration. It is at the forefront of Guangdong and even China's hydrogen energy industry.

I still remember that on December 30, 2019, the hydrogen energy tram developed by CRRC Sifang went online to carry passengers in Gaoming, Foshan. At this launch ceremony marking the official launch of the world’s first hydrogen energy tram into commercial operation, it is now Xu Guo, the deputy mayor of Foshan, even shouted: "Standing at the vent of the energy revolution, the future is here, Foshan, the hydrogen city."

Zhang Yousheng, deputy director of the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, said: "Hydrogen energy is essential in the future national energy transition. Foshan is a pioneer in the development of hydrogen energy in my country. How to make the first step in hydrogen energy depends on Foshan."

Up to now, Foshan has formed a three-pronged structure of Guangdong New Energy Automobile Industry Base in Nanhai, Hyundai Hydrogen Tram Repair Base in Gaoming, and Hydrogen Energy Industry R&D and Production Base in Yunfu.

As the country is shrouded in the haze of the epidemic and economic production is being affected, Foshan’s regional hydrogen energy plans have been introduced one after another, enterprises have resumed work to catch up, and hydrogen energy buses and hydrogen refueling stations have been put into operation. A shot of a booster.

Ding Yanchun said that objectively speaking, the epidemic has caused great harm to our country, but there are two sides to everything. The emergence of the epidemic also gives us time to practice our internal strength. At the same time, because imported products cannot be delivered on time, this has given domestically produced products. Opportunities for hydrogen energy companies.

Foshan’s “high-flying progress” in the hydrogen energy industry has further strengthened Longshen’s emphasis on hydrogen energy. To this end, Longshen Robotics has also established a hydrogen energy business department to better lay out the hydrogen energy equipment market and products to serve hydrogen. Capable enterprise.