A raft of 148 new energy projects were on Feb 25 signed up, or started construction in the districts and counties of Zibo city – located in East China's Shandong province – engaged in such fields as solar power cells, photovoltaic power generation and hydrogen buses, among others.
The projects are estimated to cost a total of 122.2 billion yuan ($19.37 billion).
The Qilu Energy Storage Valley – the main venue for the recent groundbreaking and signing ceremony – has attracted industry leaders to base themselves there, including Huawei and Beijing WeLion New Energy Technology.
Of these, the 100 gigawatt-hour solid lithium battery project, invested by Beijing WeLion New Energy Technology Co Ltd, is a battery technology industrialization project regarded as having the highest safety factor and the largest energy density in China. The project is set to be built and start operating this year, even though it was just signed this year.
"It took less than 100 days to negotiate, sign and start the project," said Yu Huigeng, chairman of WeLion New Energy Technology. Yu added that the first phase of the project would achieve an annual output value of 20 billion yuan, if it fully ramps up to its design capacity.
In addition, the Qilu Energy Storage Valley has introduced 15 high-end industrial projects, totaling 65.5 billion yuan. This is expected to create the longest, most complete and most high-end new energy industry supply chain for energy storage, solar power and wind power in China – striving to achieve an annual output value of 210 billion yuan in five years.
On top of the Qilu Energy Storage Valley, a so-called "Chinese membrane valley" has begun to take shape in Huantai county.
As a result, Zibo is said to be poised to build a hydrogen industry hub there, with the proton exchange membrane – a key technology for hydrogen cell vehicles developed by the Zibo-based Dongyue Group – at the core, connecting both upstream and downstream companies.
