National People's Congress deputies: supporting the development of the new energy vehicle industry and promoting green and low-carbon energy transformation

Zhang Tianren, a National People's Congress representative and Chairman of Tianneng Battery Group Co., Ltd., has been deeply involved in the field of energy and electricity for a long time. During this year's National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, he focused on the development of new energy vehicle industry and power battery technology, and comprehensively promoted rural revitalization. The reporter interviewed him about this.
Reporter: The government work report has made arrangements for orderly promotion of carbon peak and carbon neutrality work.   As the head of a battery company, how do you view the development of the energy storage industry? How to better promote the large-scale application of advanced energy storage technology?
Zhang Tianren: Currently, the global energy supply and demand system is transitioning towards low-carbon, and the deployment of carbon peak and carbon neutrality will accelerate the adjustment of energy structure. The development prospects of the energy storage industry are very broad.
As a strategic emerging industry, the energy storage industry is still in its early stages of development. To promote the large-scale application of advanced energy storage technologies, it is necessary to strengthen the safety and standardization of industrial development. It is recommended that relevant national departments pay more attention to the full lifecycle risk analysis and risk control methods of energy storage systems, strengthen system design and safety research and development, improve the standard system for the integration, inspection, and construction of electrochemical energy storage batteries, energy storage equipment, and energy storage systems, and promote the establishment of technical standards and specifications for the manufacturing, construction, installation, and operation monitoring of energy storage equipment.
The development of energy storage industry and the application of energy storage technology have promoted the transformation of terminal energy consumption. Next, we will continue to promote the diversification of energy structure, encourage non carbon energy generation, gradually build a new power system, promote the upgrading of the power grid to the energy internet, and promote the green and low-carbon transformation of energy.
Journalist: Developing new energy vehicles is a necessary path for China to move from being a major automobile country to a strong automobile country, and it is also an important measure to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality in the transportation sector. How do you view the opportunities and challenges faced by the development of the new energy vehicle industry in the current context of "dual carbon"? As an important part of the new energy vehicle industry chain, what changes do you think will occur in the battery industry?
Zhang Tianren: The "dual carbon" goal has brought new development opportunities to China's new energy vehicle industry. A series of carbon reduction policies and policies supporting the development of the new energy vehicle industry have been promulgated and implemented, which will accelerate the application of low-carbon materials and technologies, increase the penetration rate of new energy products, and provide strong support and guarantee for the high-quality development of new energy vehicles in China. At the same time, the development of the new energy vehicle industry also faces three challenges: firstly, at the technical level, some key technologies in the production of new energy vehicles still need to be broken through; Secondly, at the market level, the international market development ability and risk resistance ability of new energy vehicle enterprises are still relatively weak; Thirdly, at the policy level, there is still a certain degree of mismatch and inconsistency between the development route and policies of the new energy vehicle industry and the actual development of the industry.
As an important part of the new energy vehicle industry chain, the future battery industry should closely adjust its technological route around the national "dual carbon" deployment, and use safe and mature power batteries to support the development of truly energy-saving and emission reducing electric vehicles. At present, the lithium-ion technology route is the mainstream of electrochemical energy storage. In fact, there are still many battery technology routes, including high-energy lead carbon batteries, lithium-ion batteries, sodium sulfur batteries, etc. It is recommended to encourage the development of energy storage batteries with multiple technology routes on the basis of considering indicators such as cycle life, scale, safety, economy, and energy efficiency, and to create more safe and efficient energy storage power stations.
Reporter: The government work report proposes to strengthen the position of enterprises as the main body of innovation and continuously promote key core technology research and development. May I ask what is the "bottleneck" problem that urgently needs to be solved in the field of power batteries in China? How do you think energy and power companies can play a greater role in promoting energy technology innovation?
Zhang Tianren: Currently, China's power battery technology field still faces some urgent "bottleneck" problems that need to be solved. For example, some materials of high-quality power batteries and some core equipment of power battery manufacturing still rely on imports and have not been localized. This is a difficult problem that we need to continue to overcome.
Energy and power enterprises should regard carbon peak and carbon neutrality as a new opportunity to promote a new round of technological industry revolution, accelerate energy technology innovation, strive to master key energy storage technologies with international leading levels, form a relatively complete technology and standard system, promote the vigorous development of various energy storage business models in the energy and power markets, and fully leverage the demonstration effect of carbon reduction.
To my knowledge, State Grid Corporation of China has innovatively applied digital technology and built the world's largest new energy cloud platform, providing one-stop full process online services for new energy enterprises. It has accumulated access to over 2 million wind and solar power stations. Zhejiang Huzhou Power Supply Company innovatively carried out pilot work last year, creating a support service platform based on the new energy cloud, constructing application scenarios such as dual carbon management, carbon inclusiveness, and industrial carbon efficiency codes for government departments, providing carbon management and carbon finance services for new energy stations and financial institutions, and providing "carbon efficiency+energy efficiency services" for enterprises, effectively serving the province's energy conservation and emission reduction.
Reporter: Vigorously promoting agricultural production and promoting comprehensive rural revitalization is one of the government's tasks this year. The government work report proposes to strengthen the construction of infrastructure such as water, electricity, gas, information, and postal services. May I ask what changes have been brought to rural areas by infrastructure, including electricity, and inclusive services in recent years? Do you have any opinions or suggestions on further improving rural power infrastructure and achieving the integration of urban and rural public services?
Zhang Tianren: Electricity is a fundamental industry that is related to energy security and national economy and people's livelihood. Economic development prioritizes electricity. In recent years, State Grid Corporation of China has effectively shouldered its professional mission, committed to improving rural power infrastructure, promoting the integration of urban and rural public services, continuously meeting the growing electricity needs of the people, charging a better life with practical actions, and empowering a beautiful China. Currently, the vast rural areas of Zhejiang are accelerating the construction of an integrated, diversified, and highly elastic power grid for urban and rural areas, ensuring reliable and intelligent electricity use for farmers. At the same time, the "Online State Grid" and "Zheli Office" online "One Stop Service" have been vigorously promoted in rural areas, and the full coverage of unmanned power supply business halls and power service halls in rural areas has enabled rural electricity services to be "small things do not leave the village, big things do not leave the town".
In the future, regarding further improving rural electricity infrastructure and achieving the integration of urban and rural public services, I suggest accelerating the construction of institutional guarantee systems from the perspectives of legislation, standards, and mechanisms, so that provincial, cost-effective, and green electricity can better benefit the people.
Responsible Editor | Wang Song
Responsible Editor | State Grid Report