Yichang moves toward a low-carbon future

By Tan Maolin, Yichang International Communication Studio

Yichang is continuing to make steps toward a more green future at the second annual Yichang "330" Three Gorges International Talents Day. The Sino-German New Energy and New Materials Industry Exchange and Promotion Event was held on Friday as part of the event.

At the event, Yidu, a county-level city in Yichang, signed a strategic cooperation framework with Hubei/Wuhan Liaison Office for Economic Cooperation with Saxony, which is owned by the Federal State of Saxony in Germany. According to the framework, the two sides will work together to build a platform for economic and cultural exchange, aiming to promote cooperation and exchanges in key areas such as intelligent equipment, automobile manufacturing, new energy materials, and ecological and environmental protection.

<caption>The state of Saxony is located on the eastern part of Germany. It is one of Germany’s top auto locations. The main industrial branches in Saxony are the automobile industry, the metal production sector and the electrical engineering / microelectronics branches.

Sixteen overseas experts in the fields of new energy and materials, including Yan Jinyue – an academician of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, participated in the event and introduced some of the world's most cutting-edge technologies, as well as Germany’s energy transition experience. Some of Yichang’s key enterprises signed agreements with overseas experts, planning to cooperate on transformations in new energy and new material technologies.

China has set goals of reaching peak CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060. With their advantages in generating renewable energy - the location of the Three Gorges Dam, Yichang has made every effort, including continuously promoting the transition to a low-carbon economy, trying to ensure that the “30-60” carbon peak and neutrality goals are achieved on schedule.

Back in January 2022, Yichang issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development in Yichang City,” proposing to optimize the energy supply and consumption structure to achieve the goals for a green and low-carbon energy transition.

The paper states that Yichang will implement 86 key energy projects during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, with a total estimated investment of 175.9 billion yuan (US$ 27.7 billion), of which new energy projects account for about 65 percent. By 2025, the city's total installed power capacity will reach 33 million kilowatts (including the Three Gorges Power Station), and the installed capacity of new energy will reach 3 million kilowatts. The city's coal consumption will reach its peak and its proportion in primary energy consumption will be reduced to 50 percent.

Meanwhile, Yichang actively promotes the development of the new materials industry to meet the terminal demand of the new energy industry under an energy transition.

According to the "Report on Accelerating the Development of New Energy New Material Industry Chain" released by Yichang in November 2022, by 2025, the production capacity of lithium iron phosphate batteries in Yichang is expected to reach 200 GWh. This will account for more than 1/3 of the national market demand. Production capacity of the supporting cathode material, lithium iron phosphate, will reach 900,000 tons, accounting for more than 60 percent of the national market.