Under the goal of "double carbon", the new energy materials industry is in a stage of rapid development, which is a key link in shaping the competitiveness of China's energy and automobile industry in the future. At the 2023 China New Energy and New Materials Industry Conference held recently, Duan Debing, vice president and secretary general of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said that in recent years, in the vigorous development of the new energy industry, the related non-ferrous metal materials have also developed rapidly, especially the new energy metal varieties represented by silicon and lithium, which have received unprecedented attention from the market and achieved tangible development results.
In the production workshop of Jiangxi Moirta Magnetics, located in Fuzhou National High-tech Industrial Development Zone, Jiangxi, hundreds of equipment have been debugged. "This is a new project for the company to invest in the new energy and new material track, which can produce about 3,500 tons of high-performance sintered NdFeB permanent magnets annually after reaching production, and is expected to achieve an annual revenue of about 1.5 billion yuan. Song Xiaoming, the project leader, introduced that sintered NdFeB permanent magnet materials are widely used in new energy vehicles, energy-saving industrial motors, aerospace and other fields, and are in high demand.
After years of development, Fuzhou High-tech Zone has formed three characteristic subdivisions: new energy batteries, new semiconductors, and copper and aluminum-based new materials. In terms of new energy batteries, it covers upstream and midstream products, and strives to build a whole industry chain of lithium and sodium batteriesIn terms of copper and aluminum-based new materials, we will promote the transformation of non-ferrous metals from traditional rough processing to deep processing. Among them, Tongbo Technology can achieve an annual output of up to 50,000 tons of 45 micron lithium battery copper foil, ranking in the forefront of the country. Zeng Chun, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Fuzhou High-tech Zone, said that in the context of green and low-carbon energy transformation, a 100 billion yuan new energy and new material industrial cluster is being formed in Fuzhou.
Fuzhou High-tech Zone is just a microcosm of the large-scale development of new energy materials in China. By the end of 2022, China's industrial silicon, polysilicon, and silicon wafer production accounted for 98% and 98% of the world's output, respectivelyThe development of lithium resources, the production and consumption of lithium salts, also account for % of the global total. At the same time, China has established a silicon and lithium industry technology system with independent intellectual property rights, and all new silicon production capacity equipment has been localized. The quality of crystalline silicon products has been greatly improved, the energy consumption has been significantly reduced, and the cost of photovoltaic power generation has been greatly reducedBreakthroughs have also been made in the extraction of lithium from salt lakes and the development and utilization of lepidolite, and they have entered the stage of industrial production. The downstream lithium battery cathode materials are developing rapidly, and the ternary material precursor not only meets the needs of the domestic market, but also becomes an important party in the international market.
Zhao Jungui, vice president and secretary general of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, introduced that represented by the export of electric vehicles, photovoltaic products and lithium batteries, China has become the largest country in the production and export of new energy and new energy materials, and has taken the lead in the world's new energy industry, which has also greatly driven the innovation and development of supporting new energy materials. Breakthroughs have been made in the research and development and application of new materials, which has enabled China to achieve a dominant position in this field.
In the view of Yang Songfeng, deputy director of the Petrochemical Division of the Industrial Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, new energy materials are important basic materials for clean energy, green equipment manufacturing and other industries, and power batteries are the heart of new energy vehicles. In the context of carbon neutrality, the R&D, application and industrialization of new energy materials and power batteries are of great significance to the formation of green travel modes, the adjustment of energy structure, and the promotion of green and low-carbon development in China.
Although significant advantages have been achieved, China's new energy materials are still in the stage of exploration and improvement from the perspectives of energy conversion and utilization efficiency, application experience, and sustainable development of resources. The technology still needs to be vigorously optimized and improved, and the whole industry needs to focus on the core issues, develop and innovate in a down-to-earth manner, and find perfect solutions.
Xiao Jinsong, director of the Materials Industry Research Institute of CCID Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, believes that lithium-ion batteries have a long development time and mature technology, and occupy a dominant position in the new energy battery market. However, limited by raw materials** and the current material system, the performance of lithium-ion batteries in all aspects is increasingly entering a bottleneck period, and it is difficult to break through. The raw materials of sodium-ion batteries are abundant and inexpensive, the industrial chain has been initially formed, and commercialization is steadily advancing. Various new high-specific energy batteries and high-safety batteries are still in the laboratory stage and need to be strengthened in research and development. (Economic ** reporter Wang Yichen).