Four departments: Achieve breakthroughs in key materials and components for energy-saving equipment by 2028

Securities Times reporter Han Zhongnan

Recently, four departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and the National Energy Administration, jointly issued the Energy-Saving Equipment High-Quality Development Implementation Plan (2026—2028) (hereinafter referred to as the “Implementation Plan”), which proposes that by 2028, breakthroughs will be made in key materials and components for energy-saving equipment; the matching of energy-use systems in key industry areas and fields, and actual operating efficiency will continue to improve; the energy-efficiency levels of energy-saving equipment such as motors and transformers will reach international leading levels; and the market share of energy-saving equipment will further increase. On March 20, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held a press conference to interpret the details of the “Implementation Plan.”

Energy-saving equipment refers to products and equipment designed and manufactured using advanced technologies in all stages of energy production and use, which can improve energy utilization efficiency and reduce energy consumption and losses. Wang Peng, Director of the Energy Conservation and Comprehensive Utilization Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said, “The Fifteenth Five-Year Plan period is a critical window for a comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, and it is also the phase of focused efforts to achieve the carbon peak target. The introduction of the ‘Implementation Plan’ aims to continuously improve the energy-efficiency level of energy-saving equipment that has strong generality, high energy consumption implications, and promising development prospects, and to strengthen the supply of energy-saving equipment and its application.”

The “Implementation Plan” focuses on six categories of energy-saving equipment: energy-saving motors, transformers, industrial heat pumps, industrial refrigeration (heating) and heating equipment, water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment, and information and communications equipment, and proposes a development path aimed at driving energy conservation and carbon reduction in key industry areas and fields.

Wang Peng said that, in terms of specific deployments, the “Implementation Plan” embodies “three key emphases.” First, highlight technological innovation. On the basis of promoting improvements in whole-unit energy efficiency, “go inward” to dig deep for independent breakthroughs in basic materials and core components; “go forward” to extend to upgrades of green manufacturing processes for products; and “go backward” to expand to areas such as operational optimization and tuning of equipment. Second, highlight system coordination. Targeting pain points such as “a big truck pulling a small cart” and low system operating efficiency, the plan lists “strengthening system coupling and matching” as a key task. Third, highlight digital and intelligent empowerment. With an eye on the application of new-generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence in the field of energy-saving equipment, it proposes tasks including building large models for energy-saving and carbon reduction of equipment and innovating the development of efficient energy-saving intelligent equipment.

Regarding the advancement of the “Implementation Plan,” Li Tai, Deputy Director of the Department of Resources Conservation and Environmental Protection of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that the National Development and Reform Commission will, by improving the policy and standards framework, carrying out special campaigns in a solid manner, and leveraging the role of government investment in driving, deeply advance the replacement and upgrading of energy-using equipment. Next, it will focus on promoting energy conservation and carbon reduction retrofits in key industries, centering on high-energy-consumption and high-carbon-emission industries such as steel, electrolytic aluminum, cement, and flat glass, and advance energy conservation and carbon reduction updates and retrofits in a staggered and intensive way by industry. Meanwhile, it will strengthen standards to drive action, coordinate funding channels of all types to increase support for energy conservation and carbon reduction update and retrofit projects, and do a good job in whole-process supervision and service.

Central enterprises, as the “pacesetters” of industrial development, play an important role in promoting the replacement and upgrading of energy-saving equipment. Zhang Xiaosong, Deputy Director of the Social Responsibility Bureau of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, disclosed that, currently, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council has included equipment replacement work in the performance appraisal of business performance for heads of central enterprises and in the green development evaluation system for central enterprises. In 2025, it will drive related investment by central enterprises to reach 1 trillion yuan, with remarkable results. Next, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council will focus on strengthening benchmarking and improvement to speed up stock iteration; strengthen green procurement to stimulate market vitality; strengthen performance assessment and evaluation to compress and implement the responsibility of the main actors; and guide central enterprises to take the lead and deliver tangible results.

(Editor: Wang Zhiqiang HF013)

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