On June 15, 2025, Youyou Qu, Vice President of ZHONGHYDROGEN and head of overseas operations, led a delegation alongside the company’s global advisor Neil Bush (Chairman of the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations) to conduct a week-long hydrogen strategy field trip in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The delegation held intensive meetings with key entities including Saudi water and power giant ACWA Power, the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), and the Ministry of Investment (MISA), and visited the laboratories of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. Preliminary agreements were reached on the implementation of “distributed methanol reforming for hydrogen production + solid-state hydrogen storage” technology, future city applications, and localized capacity cooperation. As the latest initiative aligning China’s Belt and Road with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, this collaboration targets Saudi Arabia’s urgent energy transition needs. Centered on ZHONGHYDROGEN’s independently developed modular equipment, the “Alcohol-Water Pure Hydrogen Generator 100,” the project aims to establish an integrated hydrogen ecosystem covering production, storage, and utilization across transportation, infrastructure, and livelihood scenarios.
1. Strategic Alignment: A Two-Way Convergence of Resources and Technology
Saudi Arabia possesses 18% of global renewable energy potential (PV, wind power), but faces significant gaps in hydrogen application technologies. China’s breakthroughs in distributed hydrogen production and solid-state storage (e.g., ZHONGHYDROGEN’s 120+ patents) precisely address Saudi Arabia’s pain points in “scaling green hydrogen and enabling civilian convenience.” This collaboration aligns with Saudi Arabia’s 2024 strategic move to join the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Economy (IPHE), leveraging Chinese technology to accelerate Vision 2030 goals—50% renewable energy share and 5 million mt of green hydrogen capacity by 2030. Neil Bush stated, “Chinese technology is turning Saudi hydrogen from an ‘industrial concept’ into ‘daily life.'”
2. Scenario Breakthroughs: From Future Cities to End-User Applications
Unlike traditional PV power plant collaborations, ZHONGHYDROGEN’s “distributed hydrogen production” directly addresses Saudi Arabia’s three critical needs:
NEOM’s zero-carbon infrastructure: Providing “community-level hydrogen stations” for the world’s first carbon-neutral city, alongside hydrogen commuter vehicles (e.g., hydrogen bicycles endorsed by Neil Bush) and ESS, solving energy supply challenges in remote areas.
Industrial decarbonization: Leveraging Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical byproduct hydrogen resources, solid-state storage technology optimizes storage and transportation efficiency, reducing green hydrogen costs for high-energy-consumption industries like steel and cement.
Livelihood upgrades: Piloting “hydrogen wellness towns,” integrating hydrogen-rich spa therapies and fuel cell heating into Saudi Arabia’s cultural tourism ecosystem, aligning with Vision 2030’s core goal of “enhancing quality of life.”
3. Collaboration Model: Localized Integration of Capital and Technology
Backed by a $1 billion special fund from Neil Bush’s Sky Tower Investments (signed in 2024), ZHONGHYDROGEN plans to establish an R&D and production site in Saudi Arabia, implementing a dual-track approach of “technology licensing + local assembly.”This move circumvents the technological barriers imposed by Europe and the US on the Middle East, leveraging Saudi Arabia’s geographical advantages to radiate into the Middle East and North African markets. For instance, the QASSIM power plant project, a collaboration between Zhongqing New Energy and Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power in 2024, has already ensured infrastructure electricity through distributed hydrogen production. This deepened cooperation is expected to replicate this model nationwide.
4. Challenges and Opportunities: Standard Disputes and Ecosystem Co-construction
Despite the promising prospects, China-Saudi Arabia hydrogen energy cooperation still needs to overcome three major hurdles:
Standard Alignment: The integration of Saudi Arabia’s hydrogen energy safety regulations with China’s technological standards (such as certification for solid-state hydrogen storage tanks) requires accelerated joint efforts to formulate local standards.
Cost Negotiation: The initial investment in distributed hydrogen production equipment is higher than traditional solutions, necessitating reliance on subsidies from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (PIF) and economies of scale to reduce costs (with a target of green hydrogen costing less than $2/kg by 2030).
Ecosystem Synergy: Integrating Saudi Arabia’s PV resources (such as Jinko Solar’s 10GW battery factory) with Chinese hydrogen production technologies to form a closed loop of “green electricity – green hydrogen – application,” avoiding the isolation of individual projects.
Conclusion
This field trip not only marks a milestone for Zhongqing New Energy’s “technology going global” but also epitomizes the transition of China-Saudi Arabia energy cooperation from “oil and gas trade” to “technological symbiosis.” When Saudi Arabia’s resource endowments meet China’s innovative vitality, hydrogen energy is becoming a new footnote for the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” Initiative – much like the historical echo of two generations of the Neil Bush family (from “Bicycle Ambassador” to “Hydrogen Energy Promotion Ambassador”), China and Saudi Arabia, hand in hand, are scripting an “Eastern narrative” for global energy transformation.
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