CIMC Enric Starts Guizhou Project Turning Coke Oven Gas Into Blue LNG and High-Purity Hydrogen

HONG KONG, June 29, 2026 – CIMC Enric Holdings Limited has commenced operations at its integrated steel-coking project in Liupanshui City, Guizhou Province, advancing a clean energy model that converts industrial by-product gas into blue LNG and high-purity hydrogen.

The project, controlled by CIMC Enric and constructed by its subsidiary CIMC New Energy (Liupanshui) Technology Co., Ltd., uses coke oven gas from Shougang Shuicheng Iron and Steel (Group) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Shougang Group, as feedstock.

With total investment of RMB 808 million and a construction period of approximately 12 months, the Liupanshui project covers about 248 mu of land. It has an annual production capacity of around 140,000 tonnes of LNG and 24 million Nm³ of high-purity hydrogen with 99.999 per cent purity.

The start of operations adds to CIMC Enric’s expanding portfolio of integrated steel-coking clean energy projects. The company now has three such projects in operation, including the Angang Bayuquan project and the Linggang Steel project, while another three projects have entered preliminary construction stages.

Across its operating projects, CIMC Enric now has aggregate annual production capacity of 48 million cubic metres of hydrogen, 420,000 tonnes of LNG and 80,000 tonnes of liquid ammonia.

For China’s low-carbon industrial transition, the project illustrates how existing heavy industry clusters can become sources of cleaner fuels by converting industrial gases into hydrogen and LNG for transport, manufacturing and regional energy applications.

Industrial By-Product Gas Becomes a Clean Energy Feedstock

The Liupanshui project is built around the utilisation of coke oven gas, a by-product of steel and coking operations.

By converting this gas into blue LNG and high-purity hydrogen on site, the project supports a circular industrial model in which energy-rich by-products from heavy industry are turned into fuels that can support downstream decarbonisation.

This is significant because China’s transition to a lower-carbon economy will require both renewable energy deployment and cleaner use of existing industrial resources. Industrial by-product hydrogen, when purified and used in appropriate applications, can help expand hydrogen availability while lowering production costs in regions with strong steel and coking activity.

CIMC Enric said the project covers the full value chain from production, liquefaction, storage and transportation to distribution and terminal application scenarios.

The project uses equipment independently developed by CIMC Enric, including LNG storage tanks, cryogenic liquefaction systems, hydrogen compression units, plant-wide distributed control systems and digital intelligence systems.

The construction was delivered under a comprehensive contract by CIMC Enric Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., allowing the company to integrate its capabilities in key equipment, core technical processes and project services.

Supporting Guizhou’s Hydrogen Energy Strategy

The project comes as Guizhou Province seeks to position itself as a national hydrogen energy hub in Southwest China.

The province has outlined plans to develop a core hydrogen industrial axis connecting Guiyang, Anshun and Liupanshui, alongside a circular hydrogen economy belt covering Bijie, Liupanshui and Xingyi.

Liupanshui, as a core city within this layout, has introduced a 2024-2030 implementation plan to advance the hydrogen value chain across production, storage, refuelling and end-use.

The city has also started developing downstream hydrogen consumption scenarios. In 2025, a fleet of 100 49-tonne hydrogen heavy-duty trucks and four 8.6-metre hydrogen fuel cell buses entered operation. Southwest China’s first hydrogen fuel cell locomotive also underwent trial operation, helping address a gap in hydrogen-powered railway freight transport in the region.

Liupanshui is now expanding hydrogen use into heavy-duty trucking, sanitation operations, cold-chain logistics and railway freight. It is also exploring applications such as hydrogen metallurgy and hydrogen-based chemicals.

The Department of Industry and Information Technology of Guizhou Province has highlighted Liupanshui’s hydrogen resource advantages and lower production cost potential as a foundation for large-scale commercial applications.

The policy environment is also supportive at the national level. On 25 June 2026, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Administration issued the “15th Five-Year Plan for the Construction of a New Energy System”, which called for accelerating hydrogen energy and green fuel industries and coordinating the hydrogen value chain across production, storage, transmission and application.

Fuel-Cell Grade Hydrogen for Transport and Industry

The Liupanshui project produces high-purity hydrogen that meets fuel-cell grade standards. CIMC Enric said this provides a stable and low-cost hydrogen source for nearby enterprises in fields such as precious metal processing and semiconductor production.

The project is also expected to support Liupanshui’s development as a hydrogen energy demonstration city by enabling integrated gas-hydrogen-electricity energy service stations and hydrogen combined heat and power systems.

Importantly, the facility could become a hydrogen replenishment point along the “Chongqing-Guizhou-Guangxi” hydrogen corridor, helping connect production with transport and industrial demand across Southwest China.

CIMC Enric said the project will help meet national requirements for purifying industrial by-product hydrogen and expanding affordable hydrogen supply. It may also support future “Guizhou hydrogen supply to Guangdong”, widening the market for hydrogen produced in the province and helping build an end-to-end industrial value chain.

For hydrogen adoption, such regional corridors are important because fuel availability, refuelling infrastructure and end-use demand must develop together. Without that integration, hydrogen projects risk becoming isolated production assets with limited commercial uptake.

LNG as a Transition Fuel for Regional Logistics

Alongside hydrogen, the project’s LNG output is expected to support energy demand across the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan region. Sun Yong, General Manager of CIMC New Energy (Liupanshui) Technology Co., Ltd. and the person in charge of the project, noted that the Yunnan-Guizhou region remains behind northern Chinese provinces in LNG heavy-duty truck deployment and refuelling station infrastructure.

However, local logistics companies have been expanding or replacing fleets with LNG heavy trucks in recent years, while major energy players including PetroChina and Sinopec are increasing investment in LNG refuelling station networks.

This creates a downstream market for the project’s annual LNG capacity of approximately 140,000 tonnes.

For heavy-duty freight, LNG is often positioned as a cleaner transition fuel relative to diesel, particularly in logistics corridors where electrification may take longer to scale. While LNG is still a fossil fuel, it can play a role in reducing local pollutants and supporting lower-emission freight operations where paired with broader decarbonisation strategies.

The Liupanshui project therefore sits at the intersection of hydrogen deployment, industrial gas utilisation and cleaner heavy transport fuel supply.

Integrated Projects Link Heavy Industry and Clean Energy

CIMC Enric’s steel-coking integration model reflects a wider trend in China’s energy transition: linking heavy industry, industrial by-product gases, clean fuel production and downstream demand within regional ecosystems.

This approach can help improve resource efficiency while supporting hydrogen and LNG applications in sectors that are difficult to decarbonise quickly. The company said it will continue to focus on three pillars: key equipment, core processes and integrated services.

Sun Zhengping, Vice President of CIMC Enric’s New Energy Development and Application Business Center, said the company’s integrated steel-coking projects will be guided by national clean energy development policies.

“The Company’s integrated steel-coking projects will be guided by national clean energy development policies. We will comprehensively advance the connection of the entire hydrogen energy value chain and the multi-scenario application of clean energy such as LNG, accelerating the large-scale implementation of projects, and striving to become a core driving force in the regional green and low-carbon transition,” Sun said.

Founded in 2004 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2005, CIMC Enric is part of CIMC Group. The company provides key equipment, core processes and integrated services for transportation, storage and processing across clean energy, chemical and environmental, and liquid food sectors.

It is among the world’s major players in high-pressure gas storage and transport vehicles, and among China’s leading companies in cryogenic transport vehicles, cryogenic storage tanks, LNG receiving station storage tanks and modular LNG refuelling station products.

A Practical Pathway for Industrial Decarbonisation

China’s energy transition will require multiple pathways, including renewable power, electrification, hydrogen, cleaner fuels, energy efficiency and improved industrial resource utilisation.

Projects such as CIMC Enric’s Liupanshui facility represent one practical route: using existing industrial by-products to produce cleaner fuels that can serve transport, manufacturing and regional energy systems.

The climate value of such projects will depend on lifecycle emissions, end-use substitution, methane management and how hydrogen and LNG are integrated into wider decarbonisation strategies. However, the operational model demonstrates how industrial clusters can become part of the clean energy supply chain rather than only being viewed as emissions sources.

For Guizhou, the project strengthens Liupanshui’s hydrogen energy demonstration ambitions and supports Southwest China’s emerging hydrogen corridor.

For CIMC Enric, it adds operational scale and demonstrates the company’s ability to combine clean energy equipment, engineering, digital systems and integrated service delivery.

As China coordinates hydrogen production, storage, transmission and application under its new energy system strategy, integrated steel-coking clean energy projects could become important building blocks in the country’s regional low-carbon transition.