The following article is from Gaogong Hydrogen and Electricity, author Gaogong Hydrogen and Electricity
Image of the Testing Center
Solving the Long-Term, Industrial-Scale Validation Challenges of Electrolyzer Components
The core components of electrolyzers, such as electrodes, membranes, and bipolar plates, are as vital to hydrogen production systems as organs are to the human body. Every performance breakthrough in electrolyzer technology is driven by the advancement and iteration of core components.
However, the industry currently faces significant challenges:
- Outdated evaluation standards for electrolyzer components.
- Lack of industrial-grade testing and validation platforms.
- Difficulty in gaining market trust and user adoption for new technologies and products.
The absence of industrial-scale validation data and real-world performance assessments for core electrolyzer components has become a major bottleneck in advancing industry technology.While existing hydrogen production system testing centers in China focus primarily on overall system performance evaluation—including electrolyzers and their auxiliary integration—the Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center is specifically designed to test core electrolyzer components. It provides real-world operational testing for electrodes, membranes, bipolar plates, and other key components. The goal is to ensure that component-level products meet industrial standards and can operate safely and effectively in various electrolyzer designs, aligning with market needs.The Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center is about to complete the construction of the first phase of the project. The project has the ability to conduct electrochemical performance testing, physical and chemical testing of the core components of alkaline electrolyzers and proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, as well as 20-200 Nm³/h cell performance testing. The subsequent testing center will also provide performance certification services for products based on test data.
Image of the Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center test bench"The mission of the Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center is to address the long-term, engineering, and compatibility validation challenges of electrolyzer core components," said the head of the testing platform.The center provides over 6,000 hours of stability testing, simulating real industrial operating conditions for component validation. This ensures that long-term reliability tests are fully implemented.At the same time, considering that in actual engineering applications, the electrolyzer electrodes, diaphragms, and gas diffusion layers may be freely matched and combined, the Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center can provide disassembly and assembly of the entire electrolyzer, as well as matching and combination verification services between various core components.Customers can bring their electrodes, membranes, or diffusion layers to freely combine and test compatibility with other materials and components, identifying optimal configurations."We hope this platform will establish performance benchmarks for new materials and components in industrial hydrogen production. By setting industry standards for component validation and performance assessment, we aim to drive the overall performance enhancement of electrolyzer technology, benefiting equipment manufacturers, component suppliers, and research institutions while promoting the high-quality development of the hydrogen energy sector."
— Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center Representative
Building a Technological Ecosystem for Electrolyzer Equipment – Advancing the Chengdu-Chongqing Green Hydrogen Industry
Following its completion, the Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center will assist industry partners in validating a wide range of products.As the initiator and first official user, JUNA TECH will use the platform to conduct comprehensive testing of its alkaline and PEM electrolyzer electrodes.
"The Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center serves as a critical verification hub for our electrode products, accelerating market adoption and enhancing product reliability. Here, we can conduct extensive, multidimensional performance and reliability tests while allowing our customers to directly experience the technical capabilities and stability of our products. Additionally, collaborating with multiple electrolyzer manufacturers enables us to validate component compatibility across different electrolyzer designs, highlighting the benefits of a collaborative industry ecosystem."
— JUNA TECH Representative
With the goal of industrial-level verification of core components for hydrogen production by water electrolysis, the Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center has established a comprehensive, multi-dimensional performance testing and reliability verification platform for key materials and components for hydrogen production by water electrolysis.
The China Hydrogen Energy Alliance, a co-initiator of the testing platform, stated:"The establishment of the Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center demonstrates Pengzhou's strategic vision and leadership in hydrogen production technology development and application. This platform will provide strong support for the advancement of the hydrogen energy industry, and we will continue to collaborate closely to drive further innovations in electrolyzer technology."Ni Huifeng, from Anglo American Trading (China) Co., Ltd., also congratulated the launch of the Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center, stating:"This milestone marks a significant achievement for the development of industrial hydrogen technology and will accelerate the adoption of next-generation green hydrogen equipment."
Chongqing Mechanical and Electrical Group and its subsidiary Chongqing Gas Compressor Factory Co., Ltd. are co-constructors of the test platform. The relevant person in charge said: As the largest comprehensive equipment manufacturing enterprise in the southwest region, Chongqing Mechanical and Electrical has actively integrated into the new development pattern in recent years, serving major national strategies such as green and low-carbon transformation and innovation-driven development. By participating in the co-construction of the test platform, establishing a core component accelerated aging evaluation method system and performance testing standards, it will lay a solid foundation for subsequent industrial development.
Chengdu, where the test platform is located, has gathered more than 100 hydrogen energy industry chain enterprises and institutions, covering major links such as hydrogen preparation, storage, transportation, refueling and testing, fuel cells, etc., providing a good industrial ecology and policy support for the Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center.This strong industrial ecosystem and government policy support provide an ideal foundation for the development of the Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center.
Pengzhou has set clear strategic goals to become:
- A leading green energy provider.
- A standard-setting authority in the hydrogen industry.
- A key contributor to the industrial hydrogen energy ecosystem.
The city has designated the Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center as a key initiative to strengthen collaboration with Chengdu’s green low-carbon industrial ecosystem and accelerate its role as a major hydrogen supply hub in the Chengdu-Chongqing Hydrogen Corridor.
The Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center will also leverage the strong hydrogen energy application industry foundation of Chengdu Pengzhou to serve as a "converter" for the industrialization of hydrogen energy scientific and technological achievements and a "connector" to connect the upstream and downstream industrial chains, further empower the upgrading and incubation of the Sichuan and Chongqing hydrogen energy industries, and continuously strengthen and improve the local hydrogen energy industry ecology.The Pengzhou Green Hydrogen Center will continue to develop Phase 2 and Phase 3 of its expansion, ultimately evolving into a certification and testing service platform.
The center welcomes additional ecosystem partners to join in its mission of advancing industrial hydrogen production technologies.
