On the afternoon of August 18, the launch meeting for the construction of the “National Energy and Power Energy Storage Equipment and System Integration Technology Research and Development Center”, one of the first batch of National Energy Research and Innovation Platforms for the 14th Five-Year Plan (Race to the Top), and the construction plan review were held at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Electronics (EEA), Tsinghua University.

The meeting began with speeches by Liu Guoqing, Deputy Director of the Scientific Research Institute of Tsinghua University, and Professor Kang Chongqing, the head of the “National Energy and Power Energy Storage Equipment and System Integration Technology Research and Development Center”. They represented Tsinghua University, which leads the construction, and provided their remarks. Following this, Sun Kai, Assistant Dean of EEA, presented a detailed report on the construction plan of the "National Energy and Electric Power Energy Storage Equipment and System Integration Technology Research and Development Center." This report covered the construction's background, challenges, key points, the construction unit and team, goals and tasks, construction mechanisms, and support conditions. An evaluation expert group, composed of eight experts, including Li Hong from the National Key Research and Development Program “Energy Storage and Smart Grid Technology” Key Special Project Guide, Xia Rongli from China International Engineering Consulting Corporation, Xu Guizhi from the State Grid Smart Grid Research Institute, Long Wangcheng from the China Electric Power Planning and Design Institute, Wang Honggang from the Low-Carbon Clean Energy Research Institute of CHN Energy, Xiong Rui from Beijing Institute of Technology, Du Xuetao from the Network Security Products Department of China Mobile Group, and Liu Wei from the Zhongguancun Energy Storage Alliance, inquired and assessed the platform’s construction plan. They engaged in in-depth discussions and exchanges with the heads of the units involved in the platform construction, ultimately deliberating and approving the construction plan while providing feedback. They expressed that the “platform has a clear positioning, distinctive and forward-looking choices for tracks and research directions, a strong foundation in electrochemical energy storage research, and a rational development goal and task planning. The development plan is reasonable, with clear goals and focused research directions. It has set out comprehensive management mechanisms and safeguards, and it aligns with the requirements for the construction of national energy research and innovation platforms”. The expert group also recommended that “the platform should leverage the core strengths of the leading unit and participating units and enhance collaborative research. It should focus on major equipment research and engineering test demonstrations, the development of the first complete set of equipment, and the transformation of results. Regarding organizational management and operations, it should optimize the top-level design and renew operational mechanisms”.

After the plan review, representatives from the leading unit, Tsinghua University (Department of Electrical Engineering and Department of Chemical Engineering), and participating units, including China Three Gorges Group, China Mobile Communications Group Design Institute Co., Ltd., China Huadian Engineering Co., Ltd., XD Electric Corporation Limited, Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock Co., Ltd., and Tsinghua Sichuan Energy Internet Research Institute, along with technical directors in research and development fields such as energy storage batteries, energy storage power equipment, energy storage system integration, and electric hydrogen storage, made statements. They expressed their full readiness and preparation for the major research tasks they would undertake in the “Race to the Top” platform construction. They are confident in achieving the task goals within the three-year construction period. In his concluding remarks, Kang Chongqing, head of the research center, expressed his gratitude to the National Energy Administration, the Ministry of Education, and the Scientific Research Institute of Tsinghua University for their guidance and support. He also expressed his appreciation for the passionate guidance provided by the evaluation experts and the strong support from the participating units. During the platform construction, he pledged to unite the expertise of all participating units, make the most use of the platform team’s full industrial chain of “devices - equipment - systems – applications”, align with the major construction goals of the National Energy Research Platform established during this meeting, collaborate on research, and innovate for development to ensure the timely completion of the task during the three-year “Race to the Top” period.

The “National Energy and Power Energy Storage Equipment and System Integration Technology Research and Development Center” is led by Tsinghua University, with participation from China Three Gorges Group, China Mobile Communications Group Design Institute Co., Ltd., China Huadian Engineering Co., Ltd., XD Electric Corporation Limited, Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock Co., Ltd., and Tsinghua Sichuan Energy Internet Research Institute. The center applied for the National Energy Administration’s first batch of National Energy Research and Innovation Platforms for the 14th Five-Year Plan in September 2021 and was officially approved as part of the first batch of “Race to the Top” innovation platforms for the 14th Five-Year Plan in May 2023. The platform’s track is “Electrochemical Energy Storage System Integration and Safety”.