CIMC ENRIC and Zhejiang University Set Up Hydrogen Energy Technology R&D Centre

Joint Research into High-pressure and Cryogenic Hydrogen Field to Enhance China's Competitiveness in Hydrogen Energy Equipment

(1 November 2022, Hong Kong) — CIMC Enric Holdings Limited ("CIMC Enric") and its subsidiaries (collectively, the "Company") (Hong Kong stock code: 3899.HK) are pleased to announce that the Company and CIMC signed a contract with Zhejiang University to establish a joint R&D centre for hydrogen energy technology. This aims to address market demand within the hydrogen energy industry, establishing a long-term cooperation mechanism and collaborating in areas such as hydrogen contacting materials, localisation of advanced hydrogen energy equipment and technology, safety standards development and fostering professional talent. The centre will help improve the core competitiveness of China's hydrogen energy equipment and facilitate its large-scale implementation. Mr. Yan Jianhua, Vice-Chairman of Development Committee of Zhejiang University, Mr. Zheng Jinyang, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Mr. Gao Xiang, President of CIMC Group and Chairman of CIMC Enric, and Mr. Yang Xiaohu, Executive Director and General Manager of CIMC Enric attended the signing ceremony.

Zhejiang University is one of the world’s top 100 universities and a member of the China 9 – China's top nine university alliance. It is also listed in China's "Double First Class", "211 Project" and "985 Project" and on a table of world-class universities. As one of the country’s first scientific research units to research hydrogen energy, it is an important R&D institute for China's hydrogen energy industry and has won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Advancement Award for its key technologies and engineering applications for large-scale hydrogen energy purification and high-pressure hydrogen storage equipment. Academician Zheng Jinyang is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the College of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University. He is currently a special advisor to the International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee on Hydrogen (ISO/TC 197) and Chairman of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE) Special Committee on Regulatory Standards and Vice-Chairman of the National Technical Committee for Hydrogen Energy Standardisation. He and his team has undertaken and successfully completed more than 20 national key R&D projects (including 973 projects and 863 projects, etc.) covering hydrogen energy storage and transportation, hydrogen refueling equipment and Type IV on-vehicle cylinders  and has achieved a series of technical breakthroughs in hydrogen storage high-pressure vessels, cryogenic pressure vessels, flexible high-pressure composite pipes and more. Heading the development of nine major national standards for high-pressure hydrogen storage, he and his team have helped develop 27 national standards and 5 international standards such as UNGTR13, the United Nations Global Technical Specification. The research results have been successfully applied to stationary hydrogen storage vessels in hydrogen refuelling stations, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen transfer pipelines, greatly advancing existing technologies and industrial development.

The collaboration primarily consists of: (1) Researching hydrogen contacting material performance and applications in extreme environments and promoting technological innovation in hydrogen energy equipment. (2) Addressing market demand for hydrogen energy by researching key technical problems that are restricting the development of Chinese hydrogen energy equipment, developing new technologies, methodologies and products with independent intellectual property rights, and comprehensively enhancing the core competitiveness of domestic equipment. (3) Developing standards for hydrogen energy equipment, promoting the implementation and transformation of research results, and establishing a comprehensive innovation platform for talent training and industrial incubation in the field of hydrogen energy equipment and hydrogen energy safety.

CIMC Enric and Zhejiang University have cooperated for many years. The establishment of the Joint R&D Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technology opens a new chapter and will lay a foundation for deeper cooperation between various parties in the hydrogen energy field.

Mr. Yang Xiaohu, Executive Director and General Manager of CIMC Enric said, “Zhejiang University is a leading researcher in the field of hydrogen energy technology, and CIMC Enric is China's leading provider of equipment and comprehensive solutions for the whole hydrogen energy industry chain including "production, storage, transportation, refuelling and application." The collaboration is the best practice of industry-academia-research cooperation in hydrogen energy. Currently, many challenges must be resolved for the large-scale implementation of hydrogen energy industry in China. In future, the three parties will collaborate more closely to accelerate research into cutting-edge and complementary technologies to create win-win outcomes. These will progress new technologies and help develop new equipment for hydrogen energy industry.”