"Photovoltaic + Energy Storage", Anhui builds an industrial cluster with global influence

On the afternoon of November 7, the Anhui Provincial Government Information Office held a press conference on the "Top Ten Emerging Industries Series of Press Conferences (Third): Accelerating the High-Quality Development of Advanced Photovoltaic and New Energy Storage Industry Clusters".

Feng Kejin, director of the Anhui Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology, said that with the continuous implementation of the decision-making and deployment of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the pace of global energy green transformation has accelerated, and advanced photovoltaic and new energy storage industries have become important supports for promoting the process of energy revolution and important industries for promoting social and economic development. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that we must follow the general direction of contemporary scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation and seize the huge development opportunities brought by green transformation. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to build a number of new growth engines such as new generation information technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment, and green environmental protection.

Anhui has thoroughly studied and implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on energy security and his important speeches and instructions on Anhui's work, seized opportunities, and taken the initiative, resulting in the rapid development of advanced photovoltaic and new energy storage industries.

First, the scale of the industry is growing rapidly. From 2019 to 2022, the annual operating income of the province's photovoltaic manufacturing industry was 40.66 billion yuan, 64.8 billion yuan, 88.28 billion yuan and 195.49 billion yuan, respectively, with an average annual growth of more than 60%. In 2022, the operating income scale ranked fourth in the country; the lithium-ion battery industry achieved operating income of 87.89 billion yuan in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 166.3%. In the first three quarters of this year, the province's photovoltaic manufacturing industry achieved operating income of 210.19 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 79%, which has exceeded the full-year scale of 2022; the lithium-ion battery industry achieved operating income of 74.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 53.3%.

Second, the advantages of key links are highlighted. In recent years, relying on the advantages of quartz sand resources and the location advantages of convenient exports, our province has cultivated advantageous links in the industrial chain such as photovoltaic glass, cells, modules, and inverters. In 2022, the province's photovoltaic glass output reached 8.26 million tons, accounting for 51.4% of the national total; the province's photovoltaic cell production capacity was about 48GW, and the output exceeded 28GW, accounting for about 8.6% of the national total; the photovoltaic module production capacity was about 97GW, and the output was about 66GW, accounting for about 22.5% of the national total; the photovoltaic inverter shipments reached 83GW, accounting for about 30% of the world, ranking among the top in the world. In the first three quarters of this year, the province's photovoltaic cell and module production reached 51GW and 79GW respectively, and the proportion of the country increased from 8.6% and 22.5% at the end of 2022 to 14.1% and 24.1% respectively.

Third, the market players are gathering at an accelerated pace. In recent years, our province has vigorously attracted leading enterprises in the fields of advanced photovoltaics and new energy storage. Among the top ten enterprises in the world in terms of shipments, 7 photovoltaic glass enterprises, 4 photovoltaic cell enterprises, 5 photovoltaic module enterprises, 2 photovoltaic inverter enterprises, 1 energy storage battery enterprise and 1 energy storage system integration enterprise have developed in our province. At the same time, a number of local enterprises such as Sungrow Power Supply, Guoxuan High-tech, and Huasheng New Energy have accelerated their growth. There are 19 national-level specialized "little giants" in the fields of advanced photovoltaics and new energy storage in the province, and 4 listed companies.

Fourth, the innovation capability continues to improve. Relying on industry leaders such as Sungrow Power Supply, Guoxuan High-tech, and Huasheng New Energy, and universities and research institutes such as the University of Science and Technology of China and the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a large number of innovative achievements in advanced photovoltaics and new energy storage have been born in our province, including the world's first 35kV medium-voltage direct-mounted photovoltaic inverter, the world's highest power heterojunction module, the world's highest efficiency large-area single-junction perovskite battery, and ultra-low-cost new solid-state battery electrolytes. By the end of 2022, our province will have 5 national-level innovation platforms and 107 high-tech enterprises in the field of advanced photovoltaics and new energy storage.

In order to further promote the high-quality development of the province's advanced photovoltaic and new energy storage industries, the provincial party committee and government established a high-level advanced photovoltaic and new energy storage industry cluster construction leading group, and studied and issued the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening Innovation to Promote the High-Quality Development of Advanced Photovoltaic and New Energy Storage Industry Clusters", which clearly stated that by 2025, the province's advanced photovoltaic and new energy storage industry will strive to exceed 500 billion yuan in operating income; by 2027, it will strive to exceed 750 billion yuan in operating income, cultivate 1-2 leading companies with global competitiveness, and make advanced photovoltaic and new energy storage industries an important pillar industry in our province. To achieve this goal, our province should focus on organizing and implementing seven actions, including improving innovation capabilities, strengthening the strengths of the industrial chain, improving the industrial level, optimizing the industrial ecology, expanding overseas markets, demonstrating application-driven scenarios, and developing in a standardized and orderly manner.

First, the action to enhance innovation capabilities. Through methods such as "unveiling the list and appointing the leader" and "competitive horse racing", we will promote technological innovation in the advanced photovoltaic and new energy storage industry chains; guide leading enterprises to set up R&D centers, new R&D institutions, product test lines, etc. in Anhui, and cultivate and build a number of national and provincial innovation platforms; give full play to the role of angel funds such as the Anhui Provincial Science and Technology Achievement Transformation Guidance Fund in investing early and small, accelerate the transformation and application of cutting-edge achievements in the fields of advanced photovoltaics and new energy storage, strengthen the layout of intellectual property rights, and improve the efficiency of patent applications. We will strive to cultivate and build more than 10 national innovation platforms in the fields of advanced photovoltaics and new energy storage by 2027.

The second is the action of strengthening the strengths and overcoming the weaknesses of the industrial chain. We will promote leading backbone enterprises to set up corporate headquarters, operation headquarters, regional headquarters and R&D and manufacturing bases in Anhui; introduce and cultivate a group of supporting enterprises with active innovation and R&D and leading market segments; extend the layout of back-end services such as system integration, operation and maintenance testing; establish and improve the provincial and municipal major project databases for advanced photovoltaic and new energy storage industries, and improve the dynamic management mechanism of "planning a batch, reserving a batch, starting a batch, and putting a batch into production" projects; promote the development of supporting industries in northern Anhui to promote the comprehensive revitalization of northern Anhui.

The third is the action to upgrade the industrial level. Implement the "three products" action of increasing varieties, improving quality, and creating brands, support enterprises to participate in the formulation and revision of standards in the field of advanced photovoltaics and new energy storage, cultivate a group of enterprises that meet the industry norms, national specialized "little giants" and manufacturing single champions; support advanced photovoltaics and new energy storage leading enterprises to implement digital transformation and upgrading; encourage the construction of a number of photovoltaic and energy storage information recycling and utilization platforms, zero-carbon factories, and green and low-carbon parks, promote the research and development and industrial application of emerging solid waste comprehensive utilization technologies such as waste photovoltaic components and energy storage batteries, and support enterprises to carry out clean production; strengthen the quality management of related products, guide enterprises to carry out safety production standardization construction, and effectively build a safe production bottom line.

Fourth, the industrial ecology optimization action. Strengthen the introduction and cultivation of high-end talents and the training of industrial talents; promote the acceleration of the construction and operation of the provincial new energy and energy conservation and environmental protection industry theme fund, and increase support for high-quality projects in the fields of advanced photovoltaics and new energy storage; support cities with conditions to introduce authoritative scientific research institutions, high-end think tanks, and third-party testing and certification service institutions in the fields of advanced photovoltaics and new energy storage at home and abroad; encourage regions with conditions to actively host the China Photovoltaic Industry Annual Conference and other activities.