On April 24 at the occasion of the 111th birthday of Tsinghua University, Tsinghua University (Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Electronics, EEA) — Towngas Energy Investment Co., Ltd. held a ceremony in Tsinghua University to formally establish the Joint Research Center for Zero-Carbon Smart Park & Virtual Power Plant Technologies (hereinafter referred to as the Research Center). Leaders and experts, including Zhen Shuning, Deputy Dean of Tsinghua University Research Institute and Director of Institution Office, Yu Xinjie, Secretary of the Party Committee of EEA of Tsinghua University and Co-Director of the Research Center Management Committee, Executive Director of Towngas Smart Energy and President of Renewable Energy Operation, Qiu Jianhang, General Manager of Towngas Energy and Co-Director of the Management Committee of the Research Center, Gu Jing, Senior Vice President and Chief Representative of Beijing Representative Office of Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited, Sun Hongbin, Member of the Management Committee of the Research Center and Professor of Tsinghua University, Wu Wenchuan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of EEA of Tsinghua University, Wu Yukeng, Senior Executive of Towngas Smart Energy, Hu Wuhua, Vice President of Towngas Smart Energy, Guo Qinglai, Director of the Research Center and Professor of Tsinghua University, attended and witnessed the establishment ceremony, which was presided over by Prof. Wu Wenchuan.

Zhen Shuning delivered a speech on behalf of Tsinghua University, expressing thanks to Towngas Energy for its continuous support to Tsinghua University’s scientific research work, and hoped to build the research center into a platform for both parties to carry out scientific and technological research, resource sharing, gathering talents, and nurturing achievements, produce great results, drive the development and technological progress of the energy Internet and new power systems, and make pioneering contributions to the national dual-carbon strategy.

In his speech, Yu Xinjie expressed his gratitude to Towngas Energy for its support and trust in the collaborative innovation work of “Production — Studying — Research — Application” in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Electronics of Tsinghua University, and expressed his strong confidence in the high-quality research and development results of the virtual power plant technology. The Research Center will overcome a series of key technical challenges in digitization and intelligentization of zero-carbon smart parks, effectively enhance the academic influence of Tsinghua University in the field of zero-carbon smart parks and virtual power plants, and accelerate the development of EEA in clean energy and green low-carbon power plants. The transformation, promotion and application of scientific and technological achievements in the field will help the digital and intelligent upgrade of Towngas Energy Zero-Carbon Smart Park through scientific and technological research.

Qiu Jianhang said in his speech that Towngas Energy is honored to renew the frontier with Tsinghua University on the occasion of the 111th anniversary of Tsinghua University and jointly establish the second phase of the joint research center. At present, the first phase of the joint research center has completed the joint R&D and delivery of three platforms and systems, providing strong technological support for the transformation of the Towngas Energy Internet, and also opening the second phase of the zero-carbon smart park & virtual power plant technology research for both parties. He hoped that the two sides will further strengthen cooperation and mutual trust in the future, focus on the development and construction of zero-carbon smart park projects and the transformation and upgrading of the energy digitalization industry, center on the strategic concept of “zero-carbon smart park & virtual power plant”, with Towngas Energy as the market traction and Tsinghua University as the technology leader to achieve win-win cooperation between and jointly contribute to the national “dual carbon” goal.

After the establishment ceremony, Guo Qinglai, Director of the research center and Professor of Tsinghua University, presided over the second meeting of the management committee, and systematically reported the establishment background, organizational structure, main tasks and work of the research center. Members of the management committee warmly shared their views on the operation of the research center, and further clarified the major tasks and future expectation for the research center.

Sun Hongbin, member of the management committee and Professor of Tsinghua University attended the whole meeting online. In his final speech, he said that China has a large number of industrial parks (including enterprises above the designated scale), which are one of the main battlefields of energy transformation and dual-carbon strategy. The positioning of “zero carbonization and intelligentization of the park” is accurate. Tsinghua University and Towngas Energy have the basis for cooperation and complementary advantages. He recommended to focus on the implementation of specific project scenarios as soon as possible, quickly put the existing technology into practice to form a series of benchmarks, jointly formulate industry norms for the construction of virtual power plants effectively, publish the research results on the motherland, and write them into the great journey of energy Internet development.

This is the second close cooperation between Towngas Energy and Tsinghua University. In 2018, the “Tsinghua (EEA) — Towngas Joint Research Center for Regional Comprehensive Energy Planning Technologies” jointly established by the two sides has realized comprehensive energy program design software, comprehensive Joint research and development and delivery of energy planning platforms and integrated energy management systems, etc., which have been put into application in projects. The main research direction of this cooperation is the virtual power plant technologies in zero-carbon smart parks, as virtual power plants are an important element in building a new power system with new energy as the main body, which can balance supply and demand, solve problems such as intermittent supply fluctuations, improve energy efficiency and utilization of clean energy, and boost the achievement of the “dual-carbon” goal.