On the vast plains of Kazakhstan, more than 4,700 kilometers from Shanghai, rows of wind turbines are spinning rapidly, converting endless wind energy into powerful electricity, sending a steady stream of clean electricity to the local area. In the state of Sebeigua, vanadium battery stacks in the equipment factory are being produced in an orderly manner to expand energy for the transformation and upgrading of the power system.
Huantai Energy Kazakhstan Wind Power Project
These are all green energy projects invested by the "post-90s" entrepreneur Nanyi. Speaking appropriately and acting steadily, this is the first impression that many people have of Nanyi, chairman and president of Huantai Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. Born in 1990, he has not only the ambition of young people to innovate and start a business, but also the pragmatic and diligent step by step. In 2015, he founded Huantai Energy, which is now the largest and most competitive clean energy supplier in Central Asia with 1.9GW of grid-connected, under-construction and pipeline projects worldwide. In 2021, Nanyi stood at a new starting point and embarked on the journey of second entrepreneurship - energy storage technology innovation to empower a "zero-carbon" future. Under the leadership of Nanyi, Huantai Energy Storage has become one of the few leading enterprises in the whole industry chain in the field of all-vanadium flow batteries.
Insight into the pulse of the energy industry Join the clean energy industry
Nan Yi was born in Wenzhou, Zhejiang. The arduous entrepreneurial spirit of his fathers, who "went through a lot of hardships, spoke a thousand words, traveled thousands of mountains and rivers, and tried every possible way" has become his precious spiritual wealth. In middle school, Nan Yi studied at the Hangzhou Foreign Chinese School, known as the "cradle of diplomats", and was later admitted to Oxford University with excellent grades, majoring in engineering science. During her studies at the University of Oxford, Nanyi focused on a solid interdisciplinary knowledge base, and honed her ability to integrate information and make decisions quickly. During this period, he realized that infrastructure construction affects the country's economic development and is an important means to improve people's livelihood, and planted a seed in his heart at that time.
Nanyi
The graduation of Nam Yat University coincided with the country's vigorous promotion of the "Belt and Road" construction, and the global energy structure changed from traditional oil and natural gas to clean energy such as solar energy and wind energy. Global trends and national strategies coincide with his own thinking about the infrastructure industry, and the seeds of entrepreneurship quietly sprout in his heart.
Different from the entrepreneurs who were catching up with the boom of the Internet and financial industries at that time, Nanyi chose to look "forward" instead of looking at "money", conforming to the future trend of the "Belt and Road" initiative and energy transition, and devoting himself to the clean energy industry.
Deeply cultivate the "Belt and Road" market and build a Chinese brand
In November 2015, Nanyi registered and established Huantai Energy Co., Ltd. in Songjiang, Shanghai. Since then, he has started the "trapeze" mode, running business all over the world, and the cumulative flight mileage has reached 260,000 kilometers a year, which is equivalent to 7 times around the earth. Soon, Nanyi established a joint venture company with a Kazakh partner to jointly develop, invest and build new energy projects in Kazakhstan. In June 2017, the company's first overseas project landed, and at the opening ceremony of the "Future Energy" World Expo held in Astana, Nanyi and its partners signed a letter of intent to invest in Kazakhstan and an investment agreement for a 100 MW photovoltaic power plant project.
Huantai Energy Kazakhstan photovoltaic project
The company's first project of "going out" landed in Kazakhstan, the first place of the "Belt and Road", which is of self-evident significance. Thinking back to the first time he set foot on the land of Kazakhstan, Nanyi still remembers it vividly: "It is no exaggeration to say that after I went, I was 'black-eyed'. Although the company has experience in photovoltaic construction in China, Kazakhstan is a new market, and there is no precedent for large-scale new energy projects in the local area. ”
Nan Yi said that even if they were mentally prepared to ride the wind and waves, the group was still caught off guard. The lowest temperature in Kazakhstan in winter is as low as minus 30°C, which makes Nanyi and his team a little uncomfortable. In order to adapt as soon as possible, Nanyi devoted himself to the project, stationed at the site day and night, eating and living with colleagues in the project department, and leading the team to work day and night in case of bad weather. He stayed in Kazakhstan for half a year, and there was a lack of local design specifications for new energy projects, so Nanyi led the team to run in and communicate over and over again. During this time, even his wife's pregnancy had no time to take care of it.
"What are the benefits of these overseas investments for our country and the countries where we invest? Is it a 'one-shot' deal, or can it promote long-term exchanges between the two countries, so that more people can participate in and benefit from it?"
No pain, no gain. Today, through the innovative model of "100% Made in China, 100% Construction in Kazakhstan", Huantai Energy has promoted the reduction of local electricity costs and provided local residents with affordable, sustainable and clean electricity. At the same time, it has driven the export of products and services in China's new energy industry chain to 4.2 billion yuan, of which nearly 8% comes from the G60 science and technology innovation corridor in the Yangtze River Delta. More importantly, he led China's technical standards to "go global".
Aiming at energy storage innovation and activating new quality productivity
In 2020, China made a solemn commitment to the world to "strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060". To achieve the goal of "double carbon", increase the proportion of new energy, and build a new power system with new energy as the main body, the growing market demand allows Nanyi to see that the new energy industry has ushered in a period of opportunity of "unlimited scenery", and the large-scale growth of energy storage demand has become the general trend.
Taking advantage of the momentum, Nanyi and his team tried to enter the field of energy storage, did a lot of research around the technical route, comprehensively considered the six elements of safety, environmental protection, life, conversion efficiency, cost and sustainability, and compared a variety of large-scale energy storage technology paths including hydrogen energy storage, lithium batteries, flow batteries, etc., and finally decided to make a trial investment in the field of flow batteries.
In April 2021, Nanyi registered and established Huantai Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. in Songjiang, Shanghai, focusing on the business of "all-vanadium flow battery energy storage", which is a scientific and technological innovation enterprise integrating independent research and development, production, sales and service.
"Shanghai Songjiang is a city of science and technology, with a strong atmosphere of innovation and entrepreneurship, and its advantages in human resources, industrial clusters, high-quality business environment and comprehensive support policies have provided strong support for the development of enterprises. Nan Yi said.
All-vanadium flow battery energy storage is a new type of energy storage technology, which uses vanadium battery as the energy storage unit to convert electrical energy into chemical energy through flow battery, so as to realize the storage and release of electric energy. In practical application, vanadium battery energy storage is like a giant "power bank", which can play a role in peak shaving and valley filling in new energy power. Storing electricity during the trough of electricity consumption, releasing electricity during peak power consumption, and supplementing the electricity shortage, fully compensating for the intermittency and volatility of renewable energy power generation such as solar and wind energy, is a strong support for the "dual carbon" process.
In order to break through the scientific and technological innovation of vanadium battery energy storage, Nanyi led the team to overcome difficulties, independently develop stack components, continuously optimize process design, further improve product performance, and gradually enter the "no man's land" in the frontier field of vanadium batteries. The team is also constantly striving for excellence in the research and development of high-purity vanadium, electrolyte production technology and battery intelligent management system, and promotes the continuous improvement of the scientific research level of vanadium battery energy storage technology.
Today, Huantai Energy Storage has become one of the few leading enterprises in the whole industry chain in the field of vanadium flow batteries in the world. In just three years since its establishment, the company has gained competitive advantages in the fields of scientific and technological innovation such as stack development, system automation, low-cost and high-efficiency membrane research and development, and electrolyte preparation. Up to now, a total of 99 patents (including those under review) have been approved by Huantai Energy Storage, including 40 invention patents. In 2023, the company will be recognized as a national "high-tech enterprise", and the company will be rated as a first-class key support enterprise in the G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor of the Yangtze River Delta in Songjiang District, and its products will be approved as the first set of major technical equipment projects in Songjiang District. The status of the industry has been continuously improved, and he has joined the Energy Storage Committee of the National Vanadium Application Technology Promotion Center, and the senior executives have become members of the National Flow Battery Standardization Committee. Driven and motivated by Nanyi, the company's innovation ability and R&D ability continue to increase, promoting the continuous development of the industry.
Huantai Energy Storage Jiuquan Factory
Industrial support is the cornerstone of the development of green productivity. The company has realized the large-scale mass production of vanadium battery products and energy storage systems from "0" to "1", and has also made more efforts in the layout of the industrial chain. Huantai Energy Storage has laid out the Yangtze River Delta R&D Center, Wuyishan Vanadium Mining, Guazhou Electrolyte Deep Processing, Jiashan Demonstration Factory, and Jiuquan Manufacturing Plant. The whole vanadium flow energy storage industry chain with a total investment of 10 billion yuan will lay the most solid foundation for the industrialization of vanadium battery scientific and technological achievements. At the same time, Huantai Energy Storage's vanadium battery products and energy storage systems have been well demonstrated in Jiashan, Wenzhou, Guazhou, Jiuquan and other places.
"The company will continue to take root in Songjiang, Shanghai, rely on the G60 science and technology innovation corridor in the Yangtze River Delta, refine and strengthen the 'Belt and Road' market, do a good job in the 'double carbon' strategic article, continue to make efforts in the field of new energy and energy storage, and contribute to the promotion of Chinese-style modernization. Nanyi said that he has a clear and definite direction for the future development of the enterprise.
Source: Shanghai Songjiang