On September 21, a specialized session of Sichuan Province's "Three-Entry" initiative brought university experts and corporate leaders to the Yibin Energy Storage Industrial Park in Xuzhou District, where they conducted on-site inspections and discussions to tackle industry bottlenecks and technical hurdles, aiming to accelerate the growth of the region's new energy storage sector. The event, part of the broader provincial program that dispatches entrepreneurs, university chancellors, and technical specialists to cities and prefectures, focused on leveraging expert insights to enhance efficiency and drive tangible progress in the industry.
During the morning visit, the delegation toured key facilities, including Yibin CRRC Times New Energy Co., Ltd., to assess the current state of energy storage development and lay the groundwork for future collaborations in research, talent acquisition, and technology breakthroughs. The Yibin Energy Storage Industrial Park, which began construction in 2024, has rapidly evolved from scratch to a thriving hub within just over two years, serving as a core zone for the city's "one blue, one green" industrial strategy. With 1.52 square kilometers of built-up area and full access to utilities like water, electricity, gas, and telecommunications, the park is preparing to launch its innovation and R&D centers soon.
Focusing on core segments such as battery cells, system integration, and key materials, the park has attracted two leading chain enterprises, CRRC Zhuzhou Institute and Pengcheng Wuxian, which have in turn driven the agglomeration of over 20 supporting companies. To date, the park has signed 26 projects with total investments exceeding 14 billion yuan, boasting an installed production capacity of over 20 GWh. Ambitious targets include reaching 10 billion yuan in output by 2026 and 30 billion yuan by 2030, with the goal of establishing a top-tier domestic new energy storage industry cluster.
As the industry accelerates, common technical bottlenecks in manufacturing processes, system maintenance, and supply chain coordination have become increasingly apparent. Local authorities previously conducted in-depth surveys of key enterprises, identifying nine major technical challenges that were publicly announced for resolution during this event. These challenges span critical areas such as grid-forming energy storage DC equipment adaptation, green power direct connection system coordination, wide-operating-condition technology for energy storage converters, thermal safety and consistency in large-capacity cells, flexible transformation of integrated production lines, full-lifecycle digital operation and maintenance of power stations, pathways for multi-energy storage industrialization, supply chain quality collaboration, and the alignment of storage station lifespan degradation with financing terms.
"Given the rapid pace of technological iteration, many practical production issues are difficult for individual companies to overcome alone, so we eagerly anticipate fresh ideas and solutions from the experts," said Wang Xichuan, plant manager at Yibin Xin'ai New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., during an interview. The attending experts, drawing on cutting-edge industry trends, analyzed each challenge and proposed actionable solutions covering topology design, component advancement, process upgrades, intelligent maintenance, and supply chain enhancement, providing professional intellectual support for Yibin's energy storage sector to break through technological barriers.
In the subsequent symposium, the Xuzhou District facilitated project cooperation and released a list of enterprise technical challenges, questioning how to address new requirements for DC power electronic equipment in grid-forming storage, how to develop collaborative storage and DC equipment under green power direct connection and local consumption, how to achieve breakthroughs in wide-operating-condition high-efficiency and high-power-density converter technology, how to manage production processes, consistency, and thermal safety in large-capacity cells, and how to enhance flexible manufacturing capabilities in system integration lines. In response to these nine representative common issues covering technology, management, and supply chain assurance, multiple experts provided on-site guidance, offering pathways for enterprises to overcome technical constraints and pointing the way for local authorities to refine industrial policies and optimize the innovation ecosystem.
The new energy storage industry in Xuzhou District is at a pivotal stage of transitioning from strength to excellence and from agglomeration to leaps. However, expert talent remains the linchpin for industrial breakthroughs. A district official stated that with multiple technology routes such as solid-state batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and flow batteries racing forward in the new energy storage supply chain, challenges related to safety, lifespan, cost, and system integration still need resolution. Xuzhou District approaches these real-world industrial issues with sincerity and a spirit of open and win-win cooperation.
The district pledges to implement pragmatic measures and provide proactive services, continuing to enhance mechanisms like Yibin's "Jiangyuan Action" and the "Open List Challenge" system, while opening up application scenarios across grid-side, user-side, source-grid-load-storage, and charging-swapping segments. By fostering deep industry-university-research integration, the district aims to ensure that every insight takes root locally and every achievement flourishes within the park.