【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】Breakthroughs from 3095 to 2026! Chinese hydrogen pipeline project secures first order in Europe

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Let’s give praise and support to the achievements made in China’s chemical engineering technology and equipment; your participation in discussions is the greatest encouragement. **********************【Ten Years of Great Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】Regular updates and summaries are available – feel free to join the discussions: https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html ***************** While there are continuous good news reports regarding overseas orders for electrolyzers, more types of hydrogen-related products are also beginning to enter foreign markets. On April 20, Bohai Equipment, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, officially received the award notice for a European new energy pipeline project; the product awarded was straight-seam submerged arc welded steel pipes (LSAW) for hydrogen transport. However, the specific name, location, and timeline of the project have not yet been made public. This is the company’s first overseas order for straight-seam submerged arc welded steel pipes for hydrogen transport, marking a significant breakthrough into the high-end European market. This is not merely a business contract; behind this notice lies the first time that China’s high-end energy equipment has managed to break into the European hydrogen infrastructure market. It represents China’s effort to break through the monopolies held by European and American companies in the field of key hardware for energy transition, and its value far exceeds the amount specified in the contract itself! Earlier in early April, the straight-seam submerged arc welded steel pipes and hot-bent pipes produced by Bohai Equipment Julong Steel Pipe Company passed the strict inspections carried out by the Polish Office of Technical Supervision (abbreviated as “UDT”). This success secured them a \"key pass\" to enter the Central and Eastern European market, thereby opening doors for Julong Steel Pipe Company in that region. This process is, in fact, a comprehensive “inspection” and “certification” of China’s high-end steel pipe manufacturing system, from its production processes to quality management. The ambitious plans and gaps in Europe’s hydrogen infrastructure: According to the plan for Europe’s hydrogen backbone network, around 28,000 kilometers of pipelines are to be built by 2030, with this figure rising to 53,000 kilometers by 2040, covering 28 countries. The total investment is estimated to range from 80 billion to 143 billion euros. Germany alone has approved 9,040 kilometers of core hydrogen infrastructure, with a total investment of 18.9 billion euros. According to a report released by the European Hydrogen Backbone (EHB) in November 2025, the total length of hydrogen pipelines in operation across Europe has exceeded 2,200 kilometers, but there is still a huge gap compared to the target of 53,000 kilometers. The hydrogen pipeline projects in Europe are as follows. • Spain-France: Annual transport capacity of 15 million tons; 7 billion euros are required in investment to transport hydrogen produced on the Iberian Peninsula as well as hydrogen imported from North Africa to Central Europe ； • France–Luxembourg–Germany: Annual transport capacity of 7 million tons, investment of 4 billion euros, linking Europe’s major hubs with demand for industrial hydrogen ； • France–UK: Annual transport capacity of 3 million tons, investment of 8 billion euros to enable hydrogen trade between the two sides of the English Channel ； • UK-Netherlands: Annual transport capacity of 4 million tons; investment of 1 billion euros to improve the hydrogen transport infrastructure in the North Sea ； • Denmark-Germany: An annual transport capacity of 3 million tons, with an investment of 2 billion euros, to connect the hydrogen production capacity from offshore wind energy to Germany’s industrial market. New changes in the landscape of energy equipment behind hydrogen pipeline exports. Looking beyond the hydrogen industry and at the broader energy sector, this order from Bohai Equipment for hydrogen pipelines to be exported overseas may conceal profound industrial changes: the trend toward renewable energy is systematically reshaping the pattern of energy equipment that was established during the oil and gas era. During the oil and gas era, European and American companies established an almost unshakable dominance in the energy equipment market. In the field of oilfield services, companies such as Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes secured control over the most profitable segments of the industry chain thanks to their expertise in exploration technologies, drilling services, and reservoir management technologies. Chinese companies, on the other hand, were mainly involved in cost-sensitive manufacturing and basic construction tasks. In the areas of gas management and high-pressure transportation, companies such as Air Liquide and Linde have, through decades of experience in industrial gas transportation, established a comprehensive set of advantages ranging from material certification to engineering systems. As the construction of large-scale hydrogen infrastructure approaches, this market structure, which had become almost fixed during the oil and gas era, is beginning to show signs of change: in the field of critical pipelines, companies such as Air Liquide and Linde have their core strengths in fluid process management and systems engineering; large-scale pipeline manufacturing is not their forte. This creates significant market opportunities for Chinese companies that possess the capability to manufacture large-diameter pipelines. Furthermore, with ongoing local wars around the world, conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the US-Iran war frequently lead to rising oil and gas prices or even supply disruptions. Europe is eager to address its energy security issues, and hydrogen energy represents a key solution that Europe has identified. Regarding green hydrogen equipment, the European supply chain does have the production capacity to meet demand. However, for infrastructure such as hydrogen pipelines, relying solely on the domestic European supply chain makes it difficult to bridge the huge gap between the target of 53,000 kilometers and the current level of 2,200 kilometers within the desired time frame, let alone achieve the desired balance in terms of cost, delivery times, and scale of construction. China’s manufacturing capacity for large-diameter steel pipes has been honed over decades of experience in oil and gas pipeline projects. Chinese equipment has reached a level that enables it to participate in the global effort toward energy transition, in terms of scale, technical reliability, and safety stability; it also possesses a capability set that is rare worldwide, allowing for rapid response to the needs associated with large-scale construction of hydrogen transport pipelines. The involvement of China’s equipment manufacturing sector is expected to help Europe achieve the important goals of reducing construction costs and improving delivery efficiency. This could give rise to a new model of division of labor: Europe taking charge of rule-making, network planning, and node control, while China is responsible for materials, product manufacturing, and project delivery. The competition in global green infrastructure has begun, and China’s high-end manufacturing is demonstrating impressive delivery capabilities in an increasing number of areas. China’s high-end energy equipment is facing new opportunities for development.