Green hydrogen-powered gas turbine technology is unlocking massive development opportunities for China, offering a strategic pathway for technological leapfrogging as the country accelerates its green and low-carbon transition, a top executive of energy technology company GE Vernova said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, Xu Xin, chairman of GE Energy Investment (China) Co Ltd, highlighted that green hydrogen gas turbines provide deterministic opportunities for renewable energy accommodation and rapid peak-load regulation, reinforcing grid stability and enabling the power grid to absorb a higher proportion of clean energy.
"High proportions of renewable energy are the most prominent feature of the new power system, as well as the primary risk and difficulty in ensuring its safe and stable operation," Xu said.
"As the share of renewables continues to rise, the power system urgently requires flexible peak-shaving generation that can respond rapidly and provide reliable support during consecutive low-wind and low-solar periods," he said.
"In China, bolstered by unique institutional strengths and world-leading scale advantages in new energy, we possess the solid foundation needed to overtake on a curve in the green hydrogen gas turbine race."
Looking globally, China is expected to become the first country to achieve large-scale industrial power generation with green hydrogen, Xu added.
According to a report titled Applications and Outlook for Green Hydrogen Gas Turbines in China, jointly released by GE Vernova and the Institute of Energy of Peking University, green hydrogen gas turbines will serve as primary peaking power sources across major application scenarios, including large-scale renewable energy bases, load centers, zero-carbon industrial parks in major load-receiving areas, data centers, and industrial load agglomeration zones.
The report notes that China boasts massive wind and solar resource endowments, meaning total green hydrogen resource volume does not constitute a constraint. The delivered cost of hydrogen will primarily depend on the reduction of production, storage, and transportation costs.
Based solely on the target of reaching 3.6 billion kilowatts of wind and solar installed capacity by 2035, China's national green hydrogen supply potential is estimated to reach between 12 million and 21 million metric tons per year.
Furthermore, the report highlights that the economic feasibility inflection point for green hydrogen gas turbine power generation is expected to arrive around 2030.
This transition holds profound implications for national energy security. With China currently importing roughly 40 percent of its natural gas, green hydrogen-enabled generation offers a viable avenue to replace natural gas imports, easing external dependency while directly advancing China's dual-carbon goals of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, Xu said.
The push for flexible, low-carbon power infrastructure is further catalyzed by the artificial intelligence boom. According to International Energy Agency assessments, global data center electricity consumption surged by 17 percent in 2025, with projections indicating a compounding trajectory toward 2030 that places heavy localized strains on power grids.
Addressing China's broader industrial upgrading, Xu emphasized that GE Vernova will continue to step up capital investment and localization layout in the Chinese market.
"Currently, China is accelerating the cultivation of new quality productive forces characterized by high technology, high efficiency, and high quality, driving the deep decarbonization of traditional heavy industries and the energy structure," Xu said.
"From high-efficiency heavy-duty gas turbines to green hydrogen combustion, and from power grid digitalization to flexible peak regulation, GE Vernova believes that the green transition and new quality productive forces are spawning unprecedented incremental opportunities for the advanced equipment manufacturing industry."
"The company will leverage its global technological accumulation to empower China's energy industry chain as it leaps toward the high end of the value chain," Xu said.
zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn
