Chongqing- Energy storage can be considered as an expanded version of the battery pack that enables cars, similar to a large rechargeable battery, said Dr. Lesun Li, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Qingan Energy Storage Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. (QAES), during an exclusive interview with iChongqing on September 20.
Under the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, QAES takes it as its mission to solve the problems of cleanness and safety of human energy utilization.
The company takes multi-level security as its core technology. It focuses on the research and development (R&D) of key components and systems, including battery models, packs, racks design, manufacturing, technical services, etc.
An electrochemical energy storage power station. (iChongqing file photo)
NEV implies mobile energy storage
"The biggest role of energy storage is to suppress the energy's fluctuation, especially in the clean energy generation and consumption process," said Li. "It can definitely promote the development of new and clean energy, which is in line with the new energy vehicles industry."
The new energy vehicle is an energy storage device with a battery in Li's viewpoint. "We can regard it as a mobile energy storage," he said. In the future, such carriers can be integrated to build a mobile energy storage network, providing good support for the scenarios like the power grid.
Li believed that both sectors of energy storage and new energy vehicles share some technological and industrial grounds, in which green and low-carbon is the most focused point. For example, QAES is building the local supply chain, bringing some suppliers who used to provide services for automobiles to energy storage.
A favorable energy ecology will be formed from energy generation and transmission to consumption, not only in the automotive industry but also in the industrial electricity and the enormous power system.
A charge station in Qingan Energy Storage Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. (iChongqing/ Chen Zhan)
Energy storage will be in a new industry direction
Chongqing recently announced new plans to build a world-class industrial cluster for intelligent connected vehicles (ICV) and new energy vehicles (NEV).
Among five key projects, the green and low-carbon project is committed to building benchmarking enterprises, accelerating the construction of zero-carbon factories, and developing the power battery recycling industry.
Led by the QAES, a pioneer of new energy, Chongqing energy storage, and intelligent energy industry technology innovation alliance and innovation center were inaugurated in the Western (Chongqing) Science City on July 25.
Relying on the energy storage technology R&D and industrialized shared service platform of QAES, the alliance will provide users with energy storage products, key supporting parts, and other services, striving to build energy storage and intelligent energy for tens of a billion industrial clusters.
A factory of new energy vehicles. (Photo / Xinhua)
Meanwhile, Under the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle framework, Sichuan and Chongqing introduced the green energy and low-carbon development plan. Two places jointly planned 20 major energy projects, with a total investment of 900 billion yuan (about 130 billion U.S. dollars), aiming to build a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient energy system by 2025.
"The development of the new energy storage industry in Sichuan and Chongqing has a good foundation with innate resource advantages, strong scientific and technological strength, and powerful market demand," said Huang Yulin, deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) from Chongqing.
Huang believes that the energy storage industry will be a new industry direction with rich application scenarios, diverse profit models, sustainability, high certainty, and high growth in the future.