(Yicai Global) Feb. 7 -- Construction for Shanghai's first hydrogen energy and fuel cell industrial park commenced in the city's Jiading district, online media outlet Shanghai Observer reported. The decision to set up such a park coincides with fast developments in China's new energy vehicle industry, with many companies, including tech giants, making their foray into it.

The construction of the park will include two phases, with phase I to establish a research and development platform for the power system and key parts and phase II to set up a public service platform for the hydrogen energy industry as well as an operation and maintenance center for fuel cell-powered vehicles.

An R&D platform, which will be located in an industrial park, will also develop key parts in fuel cells, such as fuel cell stack, hydrogen supply system and auxiliary equipment.

The public service platform will include a hydrogen refueling station and a public testing platform for fuel cells. The industrial park will contain China's largest hydrogen refueling station by supplying 1000 kilograms of hydro energy per day to meet needs of daily operations of at least 200 fuel cell-powered vehicles. The testing platform will also examine fuel cell engine system's reliability, durability, and tolerance in extreme temperatures and high altitude.

The industrial park will focus on development of hydrogen energy and will introduce companies producing power systems and key parts for fuel cell vehicles and relevant firms in the hydrogen energy sector to form a comprehensive industrial chain. The park intends to generate an output value of CNY10 billion (USD1.6 billion) by 2025.

The fuel cell technology has big advantages in applications requiring high power and long distances and is deemed as a new energy vehicle technology that can widely replace traditional power technologies with huge market potential.

According to a development plan released by Shanghai on fuel cell vehicles last September, the city's fuel cell vehicle industrial chain will create value of over CNY15 billion by 2020, with the figure expected to surpass CNY100 billion and CNY300 billion by 2025 and 2030.