"Jingchu Academicians Tour" Visits MCC Wukan for Two Hydrogen Storage Demonstration Projects

WUHAN, China – As part of the 2026 “Jingchu Academicians Tour”, a delegation of academicians and experts visited MCC Wukan Engineering Investigation & Research Institute Co., Ltd. The tour focused on the technological development path of the hydrogen-energy industry. Delegates conducted site inspections of two hydrogen-storage demonstration projects operated by MCC Wukan, exploring how deep-underground energy storage can support national energy security strategies.

The expert panel inspected the Wuhan Underground Distributed Hydrogen Storage R&D and Demonstration Project, as well as the Daye Cavern Hydrogen Storage Demonstration Project. They received briefings on technical R&D progress and industrial application outcomes, and held in-depth discussions with on-site engineering teams regarding technical routes for deep-geology energy storage.

The Wuhan Underground Distributed Hydrogen Storage R&D and Demonstration Project is the first of its kind in Central China, and a key programme for the commercialisation of scientific achievements in Wuhan. It has generated multiple proprietary intellectual property rights. Capable of ton-scale high-pressure hydrogen storage within urban settings, the installation supports diverse use-cases including zero-carbon industrial parks, hydrogen-based metallurgy, hydrogen chemical processes, and household hydrogen adoption initiatives.

The Daye Cavern Hydrogen Storage Demonstration Project serves as the core hydrogen storage unit under the Clean & Low-Carbon Hydrogen Innovation and Application Programme launched by China’s National Development and Reform Commission. It hosts China’s first cavern-based hydrogen storage test facility. The project has been recognised as a national first-of-a-kind major technical equipment in the energy sector, selected for national hydrogen energy pilot programmes, and accredited as a Hubei-provincial manufacturing pilot-testing platform.

It marks the world’s first horizontal tunnel cavern hydrogens torage facility, boasts the world’s largest single-cavern hydrogen storage capacity, and delivers world-leading end-to-end integration for cavern-based hydrogen storage. The full hydrogen value chain — hydrogen production, transmission, underground storage and refuelling — has been fully realised on-site.

Leveraging its core strengths in deep-underground engineering, MCC Wukan has strategically developed two technical lines: urban-scale distributed underground hydrogen storage and large-scale rock-cavern hydrogen storage. These solutions cater to civil-sector applications, industrial operations and national strategic stockpile requirements. The company will keep advancing frontier R&D in subsurface hydrogen storage, accelerate technical upgrades and translate lab-based innovations into real-world deployment, contributing to high-quality growth of China’s hydrogen sector and the build-out of the new-generation energy system.

An academician roundtable for the 2026 “Jingchu Academicians Tour” was held in Wuhan on the morning of September 22. Academicians and experts held in-depth exchanges focused on scaling-up commercial deployment and sustainable development of Hubei’s hydrogen energy industry.