CITIC Securities: New pilot urban agglomeration approved, hydrogen energy industry is expected to accelerate industrialization
The Zhitong Finance App learned that CITIC Securities released a research report saying that according to the WeChat account of the Hydrogen Cloud Chain, on August 15, 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Development and Reform Commission issued a notice agreeing in principle to launch a four-year pilot project for comprehensive hydrogen energy applications in five urban agglomerations including Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei. If the report is true, this approval officially determines the carrier of the central financial administration's rewards and supplements, marking the transfer of the comprehensive hydrogen energy application pilot launched in March from application selection to organizational implementation. The bank believes that the hydrogen energy industry is expected to usher in accelerated industrialization during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. I am optimistic about the impact of policy implementation on industrial hydrogen, green ammonia alcohol, hydrogen production equipment, and fuel cell vehicles.
CITIC Securities's main views are as follows:
Incidents:
The five major urban agglomeration comprehensive hydrogen energy application pilots were officially approved, and the reward policy was transferred from system design to organizational implementation. According to the WeChat account of Hydrogen Cloud Chain, on August 15, 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission issued a notice agreeing in principle to pilot work plans for five urban agglomerations, including Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Greater Bay Area, Northeast (including Mengdong) - Yangtze River Delta, Xinjiang-Cheng-Chongqing Shuangcheng Economic Zone, and the Yellow River Jiji Bend - Central Plains. The pilot period is 4 years. If the report is true, the approval further clarifies the work requirements in terms of local organization implementation and fund management
1) At the local level, each urban agglomeration needs to strengthen coordination in accordance with the reported plan, introduce supporting policies, implement local incentive funds, accelerate the promotion of four lists, including technical equipment research, industrial hydrogen energy projects, fuel cell vehicle promotion, and hydrogen fueling station construction, and avoid repeated construction at a low level through annual self-evaluation and performance management.
2) At the financial level, incentive funds from the central government must be disbursed in a timely manner according to regulations, focusing on reducing hydrogen usage costs and transferring them to terminal product consumption processes; for urban agglomerations where pilot progress falls short of expectations or local incentive funds are not in place in a timely manner, the central government may deduct or suspend rewards according to circumstances, and related funds cannot be used for other purposes such as balancing budgets or repaying government debts. The bank believes that following the declaration notice issued in March, the pilot subjects were officially determined in this approval, and the central financial reward framework of up to 8 billion yuan has officially entered the implementation stage. Driven by policies, the hydrogen energy industry is expected to usher in accelerated industrialization.
From fuel cell vehicle demonstrations to comprehensive applications, the collaborative logic of urban agglomerations has been further strengthened.
The last round of fuel cell vehicle demonstration city clusters included five urban agglomerations including Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Shanghai, Guangdong, Hebei, and Zhengzhou. The policy focused on fuel cell vehicle promotion, technological breakthroughs in key components, and hydrogen supply for vehicles. The new round of pilots further covers the four categories of hydrogen energy technology and equipment research, industrial hydrogen energy projects, fuel cell vehicle promotion, and hydrogen fueling station construction, and undertakes various scenarios such as green ammonia, hydrogen-based chemical raw material substitution, hydrogen metallurgy, hydrogen blending combustion, and innovative applications proposed in the March policy. The scope of policy support has expanded from mainly the transportation sector to comprehensive industrial and transportation applications. Furthermore, judging from cross-provincial and cross-regional combinations such as Northeast China (including East Mengdong) - Yangtze River, the Shuangcheng Economic Zone in the Xinjiang - Chengdu and Chongqing region, and the Yellow River Jiji Bend - Central Plains, the new round of pilots highlights cross-regional collaboration between resource sites, equipment manufacturing sites, and terminal consumption sites, and is expected to explore an industrial organization model linking green hydrogen production, transformation, and consumption.
Strengthening local coordination and funding restrictions is aimed at improving the efficiency of project coordination and policy transmission.
The pilot urban agglomeration in this round is more scattered and involves more links in the hydrogen energy industry. The policy restricts potential repeated construction and inefficient investment through mechanisms such as clear division of labor through prior declaration, and large-scale accounting rewards and annual evaluations of actual hydrogen use. On the other hand, the current round of policies increased the pre-allocation of funds after approval. This approval further requires timely disbursement of incentive funds from the central government and local authorities, and links the lack of local funding to the deduction or suspension of central incentives, which is expected to shorten the chain of transmission of financial funds to project construction and terminal consumption. With the gradual implementation of specific projects and funds, the beneficial dimension of the industrial chain is expected to be further extended from policy expectations to the volume of equipment orders and the acceleration of project construction.
Risk factors:
The implementation of the local implementation plan and project list fell short of expectations; the pilot annual assessment results and actual reward amounts fell short of expectations; the construction of industrial hydrogen projects and the promotion of fuel cell vehicles fell short of expectations; the cost reduction rate of key hydrogen energy equipment fell short of expectations; and the risk of safe operation of hydrogen energy projects.