Hu Yang from Envision: AI + New Energy, Jointly Build a New Energy System for the Future | 36Kr Industry Future Conference 2025
On September 10th, the 2025 36Kr Industry Future Conference, hosted by 36Kr, grandly kicked off in Xiamen, China. This conference has joined hands with the "China International Fair for Investment and Trade" hosted by the Ministry of Commerce. With the core theme of "In the Era of Intensive Cultivation, the Tides Surge in the Land of Abundance", it has made every effort to create a high - standard, high - value, and high - influence industrial event that combines national vision, industrial depth, and market popularity.
The conference closely aligns with national strategic directions and the forefront of industrial development, focusing on five core sectors: artificial intelligence, low - altitude economy, advanced manufacturing, new energy, and large - scale consumption. It brings together top industry players to discuss development paths and outline the future of the industry. During the two - day agenda, with the "industrial collaboration chain" as the logical main line, the conference focuses on the collaborative mechanism among the government, capital, and industry, and delves into how to break down barriers, integrate resources, and precisely address the pain points, bottlenecks, and constraints in industrial development.
On that day, Hu Yang, the chief engineer of Envision's zero - carbon integrated energy, gave a keynote speech titled "AI + New Energy: Building a New - Generation Energy System for the Future".
The following is the content of the speech, edited by 36Kr:
Good morning, dear guests!
Today, my topic is "AI + New Energy: Building a New - Generation Energy System for the Future".
Recently, artificial intelligence has become extremely popular. It feels like the term "new energy" is something from three years ago. The Chinese language is very precise in word - formation. The Chinese for AI is "artificial intelligence", which is a combination of "wisdom + energy". It's almost evident that the future development of artificial intelligence cannot be separated from the support of the power system, and currently, the power system is facing many challenges. If you've been paying attention recently, the United States has restarted the construction of a new - generation power system, which shows that the new - generation energy system for the future is also the key to driving the development of artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence can in turn assist in the construction of the new - generation energy system. Today, I'll share some of Envision's thoughts in this field.
First, let me introduce Envision. Envision Group has four major business segments: The first is Envision Energy, a globally leading enterprise in intelligent wind power, smart energy storage systems, and green hydrogen solutions. In 2024, Envision ranked first in the world in wind turbine orders and second in new installed capacity. Its energy storage system market share ranked fourth globally. It is building the world's largest green hydrogen - ammonia project in Chifeng. The second is Envision AESC, a battery cell manufacturing company with an 18 - year history. Headquartered in Japan, it has achieved zero accidents in 18 years and is one of the world's safest power battery manufacturers. The third is Envision Digital, which provides the globally leading intelligent IoT operating system EnOS for zero - carbon transformation, connecting over 845GW of energy assets globally. You can feel the significance of this number: this summer, the maximum power load of the Shanghai power grid reached 40GW, and the scale of Envision's IoT - connected new energy assets is close to 20 times the peak power of Shanghai. In fact, 365 million new energy intelligent devices have been connected. The fourth is Envision Ventures, which, in cooperation with Sequoia Capital, has created a carbon - neutrality fund to incubate the zero - carbon industrial ecosystem for the future, and some projects have entered the marketization stage. These four segments together constitute the main business of Envision Group. We've always been committed to becoming the zero - carbon technology partner for global enterprises, governments, and institutions.
Actually, Envision is also a global company. It has operation and R & D centers in more than 20 countries and regions around the world, and over 60 manufacturing bases. More than 50% of its employees are international, making it a new - energy enterprise deeply rooted in the global market. In 2019, we were ranked among the top ten on the "50 Smartest Companies in the World" list by MIT Technology Review. In 2024, we were selected as one of the 100 most influential enterprises by Time Magazine.
Envision has always believed that the new - generation energy system is the core for achieving global zero - carbon transformation. People's understanding of new energy may be more concentrated in areas such as wind power and photovoltaics, which belong to the "power generation side" and are crucial for replacing traditional energy sources like coal and oil with green and clean energy. However, the "power consumption side" is equally important. Just having power generation is not enough. New energy itself is characterized by being distributed and highly volatile, which often leads to a mismatch of resources between the power generation side and the power consumption side.
Therefore, Envision's thinking is that the key to connecting and coordinating the volatile power generation side and power consumption side is to build a new - generation power system, with the intelligent IoT platform and artificial intelligence algorithms at the core. In a recent load forecasting and power forecasting technology competition organized by China Southern Power Grid, Envision was the only enterprise to win the championships in both power generation forecasting and load power forecasting accuracy. Currently, based on artificial intelligence and the EnOS intelligent IoT platform, combined with new energy and zero - carbon technologies, Envision is making efforts in scenarios such as large - load industries, zero - carbon transportation, zero - carbon industrial parks, and zero - carbon cities.
Specifically, Envision provides comprehensive energy solutions for multiple scenarios such as industrial parks, industries, and cities on the load side. We build zero - carbon industrial parks for governments and industrial parks; assist large industrial loads in constructing source - network - load - storage integrated solutions to achieve direct connection of green power. The world's largest green hydrogen - ammonia project put into operation in Chifeng in July is a typical example. In addition, we are building an AI - powered super charging and storage network for cities to address the volatility challenges that a large number of charging devices will bring to the urban power grid after the popularization of electric vehicles.
Zero - Carbon Industrial Park: Centered around the new - generation energy system, Envision, in cooperation with the Ordos government, has built the world's largest zero - carbon industrial park. The project was officially put into operation in 2022, and it helped Envision be selected as one of the "500 Companies That Are Changing the World" by Fortune in 2024. As you know, Ordos has traditionally relied on "wool, coal, rare earths, and natural gas" as its pillars. However, in the model where green power drives future production, the potential of the local abundant wind and solar resources far exceeds that of coal. The core advantages of this project are as follows: First, through the design of wind turbines and photovoltaic facilities and combined with AI - based accurate forecasting, it solves the problem of "abandoned wind and solar power", controls power consumption costs, and reduces initial investment. Second, based on a high proportion of green energy, it can provide clear carbon footprints and carbon - reduction paths for products produced in the park, giving them a "zero - carbon green code" to meet the requirements for product carbon footprints in overseas exports. Third, through the design of the new - generation power system, it ensures power quality to meet the continuous production needs of high - precision equipment, truly transforming the wind and solar resources in Inner Mongolia into green productivity.
Another application example of the zero - carbon park is the world's first smart zero - carbon logistics park integrating wind and solar power, jointly built by Envision and Nike. Different from traditional wind turbines located in grasslands and deserts, the distributed wind and solar facilities in this logistics park are built in the urban area of Taicang, providing 100% green power for the logistics park. The surplus green power can also generate additional income for Nike through trading, making environmental rights a source of revenue.
In addition, we also provide end - to - end zero - carbon comprehensive energy services including solar power, energy storage, charging, and carbon management for Starbucks' China Coffee Innovation Park. The park has successfully achieved 100% use of renewable energy and an 80% reduction in carbon emissions, with an annual carbon - reduction of 7,800 tons. This achievement has helped Starbucks' China Coffee Innovation Park realize its vision of creating a global sustainable lighthouse demonstration project for Starbucks.
Building source - network - load - storage and direct green - power connection projects for large industrial loads: Green hydrogen - ammonia is the "new oil" for the future. In July this year, in Envision's Chifeng Zero - Carbon Hydrogen Energy Industrial Park, the first - phase 320,000 - ton project of the 1.52 - million - ton green hydrogen - ammonia project was officially completed and put into operation. The green hydrogen - ammonia project integrates wind and solar power generation, water electrolysis for hydrogen production, and green ammonia synthesis, converting renewable energy power into hydrogen - based compounds that are easy to store and transport, effectively promoting the consumption of renewable energy. This is not only the world's largest green hydrogen - ammonia project but also the world's first to achieve 100% direct green - power connection and the world's first fully dynamically operated green chemical plant, playing a demonstration and leading role. The core of all this is the support of AI algorithms and large - scale models.
City - level new - generation energy system: AI - powered super charging and storage network. We have built a product family covering intelligent charging devices, smart energy storage devices, and key control systems, aiming to create a city - level new - generation energy system integrating charging networks, energy storage networks, smart micro - grids, and virtual power plants. In the future, smart energy stations will appear around you, which can not only provide green power charging for electric vehicles but also be connected to the network through energy storage and smart control systems to participate in the real - time dispatching and coordination of urban energy. Currently, we have jointly launched the country's first high - end charging station with Taikoo Li in Chengdu. The Envision zero - carbon super - charging system installed in it supports 480 - kilowatt super - fast charging, meets national super - charging standards, and has functions such as intelligent ground - lock recognition and intelligent gun - cable management, enabling the experience of "fully charged and ready to go in the time it takes to have a cup of coffee". More charging and storage stations will be launched in the future.
All along, Envision has been committed to providing zero - carbon comprehensive energy services for various industries in user - side scenarios, promoting the low - carbon transformation of enterprises and their supply chains. It is Envision's mission and responsibility to solve challenges for humanity's sustainable future.
Thank you all!