The intergovernmental international scientific and technological innovation cooperation project under China’s National Key R&D Program—led for the first time by China Power Engineering Consulting Group Limited (CPECC), a governing unit of the CSTA—has officially been approved. Entitled “Research and Demonstration of Key Technologies for High-Efficiency Solar-Thermochemical Hydrogen Production with Secondary-Reflection Tower Systems,” the project is ENERGY CHINA CPECC’s first intergovernmental initiative under the National Key R&D Program.
Focusing on the development of green-hydrogen production using clean energy, the project will create high-temperature, high-flux reaction conditions to boost the efficiency of solar-thermochemical hydrogen systems. On this basis, it will develop and validate high-performance, low-degradation reaction materials, design an integrated high-efficiency reactor, build a large-scale demonstration system, and assess its economics and application potential through evaluation models. Key technical challenges to be solved include solar concentrating and heat-collection systems, thermochemical hydrogen-production materials, high-efficiency reactors, system simulation and integration, and large-scale demonstration platform validation, laying the groundwork for future commercial deployment.
CPECC leads the consortium; Chinese partners include Zhongqing Solar Thermal (Shanghai) New Energy Co., Ltd., Southern University of Science and Technology, SOUTHWEST ELECTRIC POWER DESIGN INSTITUTE CO.,LTD., and Xiamen University. The Spanish collaborator is Empresarios Agrupados Internacional, S.A. Together they will carry out the R&D tasks.
The project will draw on advanced experience from both China and Spain in solar-thermal utilization and thermochemical hydrogen research, targeting clean-energy cooperation as a priority area of China–Spain scientific collaboration. Its successful implementation will set a new benchmark for win-win scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries.