What is the Outlook of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Driven Air Compressor Market?

Polaris Hydrogen Energy Network News: With the rapid development of the hydrogen fuel cell industry, the key component air compressor market is on the rise: first, the market demand is increasing year by year, and more and more companies participate; The probability of elimination and replacement is high; third, the market positions of top companies often change, and the market is relatively receptive to new participants.

(Source: WeChat public account “Gao Gong Hydrogen Power” ID: weixin-gg-fcev)

According to the survey data of the Hydrogen Power Research Institute (GGII) of Advanced Industry Research Institute (GGII), the shipments of hydrogen fuel cell air compressors from 2018 to 2020 are 1,800, 3790, and 4,068 units, respectively. In the first half of 2021, shipments exceeded 2,000 units. Combined with the upcoming launch of the list of model cities and the traditional peak season development trend in the second half of the year, shipments for the whole year of this year are expected to increase significantly compared with last year.

From the perspective of the technical route, the main types of air compressors for hydrogen fuel cells are volumetric air compressors and speed air compressors. The commonly used hydrogen fuel cell air compressors in China mainly include volumetric Roots air compressors and twin-screw air compressors. There are three types of air compressors, speed type centrifugal air compressors. In 2018, the market size of Roots, centrifugal, and screw air compressors accounted for 58%, 29%, and 13%, respectively; in 2019, they accounted for 50%, 47%, and 3%; in 2020, they accounted for 5% , 95%, 0.

2018-2020 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Air Compressor Market Size Distribution (Classified by Technical Route,%)

In the past three years, the “three-part market” for hydrogen fuel cell air compressors has gradually changed to “outstanding”, and centrifugal air compressors have become mainstream products. The share of domestic centrifugal air compressors has increased from 29% to 95%, and the market share has increased by more than three times. Under this trend, the new “players” are mainly centrifugal air compressors, especially bipolar pressurized centrifugal air compressors that adapt to the development trend of high-power hydrogen fuel cells.

From the perspective of the number of companies participating, the number of hydrogen fuel cell air compressor manufacturers in 2018-2020 will be 9, 13, and 15 respectively. As of the end of June 2021, there are 20 domestic hydrogen fuel cell air compressor manufacturers. According to the current state of the market, these 20 companies can be divided into very active, relatively active, active, wait-and-see, and silent, accounting for 10%, 10%, 45%, 15%, and 20% respectively.

☛Tips:

Very active: It is mainly a company that has been deeply involved in the hydrogen fuel cell industry for many years, and its products have been gradually verified by the market in the first three years, and have accumulated a certain market performance. At present, the products are favored by system vendors or OEMs;

Relatively active: refers to companies that have released products for many years, and have relatively few product sales and on-cars, but have always displayed their products in various public places;

Be active: refers to companies that will actively send samples and expand the market in 2021

Wait and see: refers to companies that have appeared on a certain occasion in the market, but have not launched related products;

Silence: refers to a certain period of time, the market has gained a certain share or popularity. However, companies that were gradually forgotten by the market because of the dislocation of their product iterations and the development speed and direction of the industry.

2018-2020 hydrogen fuel cell air compressor market share

According to public information, Gaogong Hydrogen Power found that Kingston, Sega Turbo, Dongde Industrial, Hua Entropy Energy, Wenli Technology, Youshe Power, Jiefeng Automotive Power, Yihejie, Deran Power, Birken Energy, Guangshun New Energy, Huajian New Energy, Heidwell (Taicang), Kehua Power, Jintongling Hydrogen Energy, Snowman Co., Ltd., Hanbell Precision Machinery, etc. are all hydrogen fuel cell air compressor “players”. Some of the company’s new developments are as follows:

1. Kingston: Kingston was established in 2007 and is the first domestic manufacturer of independent and serialized production of air suspension centrifugal blowers and fuel cell oil-free centrifugal air compressors. The company has established high-quality innovation platforms and industrial bases for fuel cell oil-free centrifugal air compressors, air dynamic pressure bearings, high-speed motors and high-frequency controllers in Xinji, Shijiazhuang, Tianjin and other places.

Kingston products have four outstanding advantages:

• 1. Bearings, high-speed permanent magnet motors, high-efficiency pneumatic design optimization, and independent development of high-frequency controllers to ensure the technological advancement of products;
• 2. High-precision processing equipment, scientific process flow, and advanced The testing equipment guarantees the timeliness of product delivery;
• 3. Obtained the IATF16949 system certification to ensure product quality;
• 4. As of May this year, the delivery of 1,650 units and the cumulative mileage of nearly 30 million kilometers have fully verified the product’s reliability.

2. Sigatobo: Sigatobo Clean Power Rugao Co., Ltd. (“Sigatobo Rugao” for short) was established in November 2018 with a registered capital of 30 million yuan. It is Sigatobo (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. The company’s wholly-owned subsidiary. Sigatobo Rugao is mainly engaged in the R&D, production, sales and service of high-speed oil-free impeller machinery. It is the R&D and industrialization base for innovative products of Sigatobo’s oil-free air compressors. It is a market leader in the field of hydrogen fuel cell air compressors. status.

3. Dongde Industry: Established in 2017, it is an incubator company of the Binglun Hydra Hydrogen Technology Research Institute under Binglun Group. Its products are hydrogen circulating pumps and air compressors that are “similar in technology” to Binglun Group compressor products. Dongde Industrial newly launched DK series high-speed centrifugal air compressor. This product is a new product developed by Dongde Industrial based on the development of hydrogen fuel cells in the field of heavy trucks in 2020 and the increase in system power requirements. Currently, two models are available: DK800 and DK1000. DK800 is suitable for 70-120kW system; DK1000 is suitable for 110-150kW system.

4. Shanghai Hua Entropy: Established in 2018, Shanghai Hua Entropy is an earlier domestic supplier that set foot in and completed the standardization of hydrogen fuel cell components. The company gathers a group of independent research and development experts who have mastered core technologies to focus on the research and development and production of hydrogen fuel cell auxiliary system (BOP system) components. The main products include DC/DC, air compressors, etc.

Recently, Shanghai Hua Entropy demonstrated a brand new centrifugal air compressor product, which adopts dynamic pressure air bearing, is completely oil-free, military technology transformation, can meet the needs of 80~150kW fuel cell system, has completed various performance tests, product performance Stable and reliable, small batch production has been achieved; the price of a complete air compressor system can be realized below 20,000 yuan/set. After the industrialized batch application, the air compressor system price can be controlled below 15,000 yuan/set, which can provide the lowest price in the centrifugal air compressor industry, and will replace and improve the localization of hydrogen fuel cell air compressors. Cost reduction in quality has played a very important role in influencing and leading.

5. Wenli Technology: Founded in 2014, Wenli Technology is a national high-tech enterprise and a high-tech enterprise in Zhongguancun. It is also committed to the commercial application of pneumatic bearings. It specializes in the design, development and production of air suspension centrifugal machinery and fuel cell power generation systems. And sales of high-tech companies.

In terms of product layout, the Wenli Technology team has completed the development of dozens of fuel cell oil-free centrifugal air compressors and industrial air compressors. Among them, 4 fuel cell air compressors and 2 industrial air compressors have reached mass production. stage. Tested and verified by leading domestic fuel cell system companies, Winli Technology’s fuel cell oil-free centrifugal air compressor products are superior to foreign mainstream products in terms of efficiency, noise and reliability. At present, the company has over 1,000 orders for oil-free centrifugal air compressors in the fuel cell vehicle and industrial fields.

6. Ushe Power: In 2015, Ushe Power started the design and development of ultra-high-speed non-contact air bearing and magnetic bearing, high-efficiency multi-condition aerodynamic design and development, development and application of high-speed permanent magnet synchronous motor, and centrifugal compressor and fuel cell air bearing. R&D and manufacturing of presses. After years of technology precipitation, Ushe Power has successfully industrialized its related technologies. The company’s existing mass-produced products mainly include high-speed direct-drive centrifugal fans, high-speed direct-drive centrifugal compressors, fuel cell air compressors, and many other series of products. At the same time, the company is also conducting pre-research and development of a series of cutting-edge products.

“In order to actively respond to the national call for carbon neutrality and the need for localization of core components of fuel cell vehicles, the company has mastered a complete set of mature ultra-high-speed air bearing, wide working condition aerodynamic design and high-efficiency permanent magnet motor and other core technologies.” The company said that since the company launched its fuel cell centrifugal air compressor product in 2019, it has now completed three generations of product development, covering stack power from 60kW to 200kW, and has completed a series of start-stop life, dynamic vibration, and road spectrum conditions. Run and other tests to realize the matching test with the stack.

7. Jiefeng Automotive Power: As a traditional auto parts, Jiefeng Automotive Power has an annual output and sales of more than 3 million sets of various products. It has its own unique advantages in product process control and product quality control. Jiefeng utilizes its technological advantages in the traditional automotive field to advance the development of core technologies and core components in the field of hydrogen fuel cells, and independently develops fuel cell air compressors, tail mufflers, hydrogen circulation pumps, sealing valves and other hydrogen fuels. Battery products. Jiefeng company focuses on product development and is committed to providing customers with high-quality and low-cost products.