Towngas and HKSTP to establish hydrogen charging system for EVs

Five hydrogen electric vehicle charging stations will open in Q2 2026.

The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (Towngas) and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) have signed a partnership agreement for the development of Hong Kong's first public electric vehicle automatic hydrogen charging system.

The charging system will be constructed by Towngas, whilst HKSTP will be responsible for its operations and management.

Five automatic electric vehicle (EV) chargers powered by hydrogen will be opened in Q2 2026, in response to the government's hydrogen energy development strategy.

Hydrogen will be extracted by compressing and desulfurization with a purity of over 99.97% from the gas network laid underground in the Science Park. The waste gas generated during this process is recycled to the combined heat and power (CHP) system, while excess electricity will be stored in the battery system.

Once operational, the system will produce hydrogen to power the five 7kW electric vehicle charging stations automatically for all EV brands with charging ports.

“The biggest advantage of hydrogen power generation is zero carbon emissions, as the only output during the process will be water,” said Addie Lam, assistant general manager of Towngas.

However, the production of hydrogen and subsequent re-conversion to electricity will carry additional costs and involve energy losses, according to City University’s report.

"Since we only have five hydrogen charging stations at present, the cost of electricity will be higher than traditional grid," said Don Cheng Hill-kwong, chief operating officer of Towngas Hong Kong business, "If we can expand the scale to 500 stations, the decentralised hydrogen power cost will be lower."

To ensure the stability of the charging stations, fuel cells, compressors, energy storage, and other components are integrated into a system, which is jointly monitored by Towngas, HKSTP, and government departments

"We already have pipelines distributed in most parts of Hong Kong, the partnership is an experiment to use existing gas pipelines to extract hydrogen and generate electricity at the user end," said Magnum So, business development manager of Towngas "We hope to promote and use hydrogen energy on a large scale, of course, with government approval."

The HKSTP has successfully reduced carbon emissions by 18% so far. It plans to reduce them by 42% by 2030. 

Environment and Ecology The department leads a multinational hydrogen research group and has approved 27 applications for hydrogen energy pilot projects, including hydrogen production and hydrogen fuel transportation.

Hong Kong's carbon emissions in 2023 have been reduced by about a quarter from the peak, with the government's goal to halve Hong Kong's carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 2035 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.