Baotou is located in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, about an hour's flight from Beijing, and is known as a "rare earth capital". [Photo/VCG]

Baotou in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region will further promote its hydrogen energy industry, with the city recently having been included in the fuel cell vehicle demonstration application city cluster.

The fuel cell vehicle demonstration application city cluster is composed of cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Yangjiang, Yunfu, Fuzhou, Zibo, Baotou and Lu'an.

Baotou is rich in hydrogen sources, and has strong potential in hydrogen production from renewable energy and competitive prices.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the additional wind power and photovoltaic installed capacity will increase the annual production capacity of "green hydrogen" by about 15,000 to 30,000 metric tons, which would reduce the cost of green hydrogen to 14 yuan ($2.17) per kilogram.

Rich rare earth resources provide support for the development of solid hydrogen storage materials.

Baotou is home to well-known scientific research institutions such as the Baotou Rare Earth R&D Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Baotou Rare Earth Research Institute, and Baotou Materials Research Institute of Shanghai Jiaotong University, which provide technical support for the research and industrialization of solid hydrogen storage materials in Baotou.