Launched in March 2023 with a total investment of 178 million yuan ($26.1 million), the project commenced production in April last year, according to the company. In 2025, it generated approximately 266 million kilowatt-hours of solar electricity, which supported the production of 1,500 tons of hydrogen at a capacity of 3,200 standard cubic meters per hour.

The project has not only transformed the local landscape but also reshaped the daily lives of the villagers. It has generated an estimated annual output value of 2 billion yuan.

As Songwan's Party chief, Hu Zhenhua is keenly aware of the changes in his home village.

Women, previously limited to farming, now work as cleaners, earning a stable 3,000 yuan a month. Others find work as laborers on construction sites. The jobs have brought them much more income, he said.

Songwan's 2-kilometer main road, once a narrow, bumpy path, has been widened and paved. New scenic walls line the streets, rivers have been cleaned, small lanes hardened, and streetlights illuminate the night.

The technology powering this green rebirth is as complex as the social change is profound.

Zhou details the engineering challenges of turning a volatile mine into a secure energy hub. The biggest hurdle was safety — specifically, safely storing highly flammable hydrogen in a former mine.

To solve this, the company partnered with a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences on what would be Asia's first-ever "rock cavern hydrogen storage" pilot project.

They devised a "triple-defense" system with rigorous geological assessment, the development of new high-strength materials to prevent hydrogen embrittlement, and a 24/7 intelligent monitoring platform that tracks pressure, temperature and even rock movement.

The result is a system where solar panels generate power, which is then used to produce green hydrogen inside the remediated mine site, creating a closed-loop cycle of clean energy.

All production wastewater is treated and reused, noise is minimized, and during construction, every effort was made to suppress dust.