Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 10 2023

AsiaElec HYDROGEN AsiaElec

Canadian firm picks Chinese city

as regional hydrogen hub

Hydrogen Valley building its reputation as Chinese hydrogen heartland

CHINA THE Chinese city of Changzhou, around 100 km becoming the capital of new energy industries,
west of Shanghai, has agreed a deal with Canadian making them an ideal partner for growth and
firm Westport Fuel Systems (WFS) to build a new providing the opportunity to establish manu-
production and innovation centre for hydrogen in facturing excellence on a regional basis, which
the aptly named Changzhou Hydrogen Valley. in turn supports our global customers accel-
WFS has made the move as part of the firm’s erating hydrogen as a prevailing low-emission
plans to increase its own influence in the expand- transportation solution.”
ing hydrogen business around the world. When complete, the Changzhou site will be
In doing so, it was revealed that the site picked a state-of-the-art production site for all types of
for the production and innovation centre should hydrogen-powered fuel systems and associated
be up and running some time next in the year. infrastructure, according to reports from Canada.
Backing the reason for choosing a site on Chi- It is understood that WFS will be investing up
nese soil, WFS was reported as saying that China to $10mn in the coming decade to both support
is currently a world leader in hydrogen tech and the facility and add to existing hydrogen based
development. infrastructure.
Speaking in the wake of the deal having been Changzhou deputy mayor Huan Heng said:
revealed, WFS CEO David M. Johnson said: “we are excited to be partnering with Westport
“Westport’s GFI-branded hydrogen fuel system to develop a state-of-the-art hydrogen innova-
components have had a strong presence in the tion centre and manufacturing facility. Chang-
Chinese marketplace for over ten years, and these zhou Hydrogen Valley is an important hub in
components support both fuel cell and internal advancing hydrogen-fuelled vehicles for China
combustion engine applications that use hydro- and the world at large. We are pleased to partner
gen fuel.” and support Westport, a global leader in hydro-
Referring specifically to the siting in the gen and alternative-fuel solutions, in joining our
relatively minor Chinese city of Changzhou, growing community of innovative technology
between Shanghai and Nanjing, Johnson con- companies, and we look forward to our shared
tinued: “the city of Changzhou is dedicated to future growth.”™

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