Having previously served a sentence for "trade secret theft", why does the founder of this emerging energy storage startup dare to set a 100-billion-yuan production capacity plan?
Dangzhuo Technology is aggressively expanding production, and its founder Zhang Wutang was once convicted of stealing trade secrets, posing hidden industrial risks.
According to reports from TW-Storage, the total planned production capacity publicly disclosed by Dangzhuo Technology has exceeded 130GWh, with the total project investment reaching hundreds of billions of yuan.
In 2026, when the price of 280Ah energy storage cells has fallen below 0.3 yuan/Wh and the whole industry is suffering widespread losses, how can an enterprise established for less than three years with total financing of only several hundred million yuan dare to be so aggressive?
The answer lies in the resume of founder Zhang Wutang, a former engineer who was once sentenced to prison for leaking CATL's core process technology to competitors. In November 2017, the People's Court of Jiaocheng District, Ningde City, Fujian Province handed down the judgment: Zhang Wutang was convicted of infringing on trade secrets, sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of one year and six months with a two-year probation, and fined 800,000 yuan.
From the defendant's seat to the signing table, from the "traitor" of CATL to the operator of a 10-billion-level production capacity, Zhang Wutang's rapid identity transformation is rare in the history of China's battery industry.
But what Foresee Energy wants to further ask is, what exactly does a 130GWh production capacity mean? Why does Dangzhuo go ALL IN at this point in time? How far can an enterprise led by a founder with a legal stigma go?
130GWh, the "Great Leap Forward" of Production Capacity of a Start-up
First, let's look at the production capacity list of Dangzhuo Technology.
According to the sorting out of TW-Storage, Dangzhuo Technology's production scheduling plan is extremely tight and rigorous:
In July 2025, Dangzhuo Technology signed a contract with Nanhu District, Jiaxing City, to launch the first-phase lithium-ion battery cell and module project with a total investment of 1.6 billion yuan. The whole project covers a planned area of more than 400 mu, divided into three phases of construction, with a total planned annual production capacity of 40GWh. The first phase is expected to be officially put into operation at the end of June 2026.
On April 20, 2026, the second-phase project of Dangzhuo with an annual output of 60GWh new-type battery cells and modules was signed, with a planned total investment of over 10 billion yuan, located in the Xiangjiadang area of Nanhu District. The pilot start-up area is planned to supply land in June, and the project will be completed and put into operation in the second half of 2027.
Then came Quzhou. On May 26, the Longyou Branch of Quzhou Ecology and Environment Bureau released the public notice of EIA review, indicating that the 60GWh-per-year new-type battery construction project of Dangzhuo (Quzhou) Battery Technology Co., Ltd. has entered the review stage. The Longyou County Government Fund plans to invest no more than 100 million yuan to participate in the investment and hold 30% equity of Dangzhuo (Quzhou).
Plus the 5GWh anode-free solid-state battery project, with a total investment of 560 million yuan and a land use of 154.7 mu, the total planned production capacity publicly disclosed has exceeded 130GWh.
What is the magnitude of this figure in the industry? As of the first half of 2026, CATL's effective production capacity is 525GWh, and the under-construction production capacity is 764GWh. 130GWh is equivalent to a quarter of CATL's existing production capacity.
A company established for less than three years has a planned production capacity close to a quarter of the industry leader — this is not aggressive, it's crazy.
What is more thought-provoking is the expansion rhythm. The first phase of Jiaxing only took about one year from signing to production, and the project person in charge described this efficient promotion as "Nanhu Speed". For the second phase, the "pilot start-up area is planned to supply land in June", and the Quzhou project has local state-owned capital holding 30% equity.
That is to say, almost all of Dangzhuo's expansion relies on the combined model of "land supply + fund" from local governments.
But how far can this model go in 2026? In the past three years, the most prominent feature of the energy storage industry is the mutual reinforcement of overcapacity and price war. From 2024 to 2026, the production capacity of the power and energy storage battery industry chain is severely overcapacity, and the overall capacity utilization rate of the industry is low. In May 2026, the newly installed capacity of domestic new-type energy storage plummeted by 85% year-on-year. The price of 280Ah energy storage cells has dropped from 0.8-0.9 yuan/Wh in 2022 to around 0.3 yuan/Wh in the second quarter of 2026, and quotations from some leading enterprises are even as low as 0.28 yuan/Wh.
The industry is cooling down, while Dangzhuo is increasing its investment. This counter-cyclical expansion is either to seize the opportunity to buy at the bottom, or to bet all its assets.
The Unavoidable Controversies on the Founder
Why does Dangzhuo go ALL IN at this point in time? The answer cannot avoid the person of Zhang Wutang.
Public information shows that Zhang Wutang was born in 1982 and holds a master's degree from the University of Science and Technology of China. From 2014 to 2016, he was engaged in power battery R&D in CATL, and deeply participated in core projects such as silicon monoxide anode materials and N1 wiring process. N1 wiring is not an ordinary production line — it involves the core links of the lithium iron phosphate battery manufacturing process, and there are very few people who can fully master the whole process of a wiring line from material formula to equipment commissioning.
But Zhang Wutang chose a dangerous path to cash in. The court found through trial that between 2014 and 2016, he and his former colleague Zhong Kaifu leaked core technologies to external enterprises via email for many times — first, they conspired to leak the silicon monoxide processing technology to Dongguan Kaiyong Optoelectronics, each gaining 100,000 yuan; then they provided the prismatic chip technology and N1 wiring technology to Zhuhai Taixin Power. In May 2016, Zhang Wutang alone leaked the N1 wiring technology to Shenzhen BAK Battery, gaining 300,000 yuan.
On November 10, 2017, the People's Court of Jiaocheng District handed down the judgment: Zhang Wutang was convicted of infringing on trade secrets, sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of one year and six months with a two-year probation, and fined 800,000 yuan; Zhong Kaifu was convicted of infringing on trade secrets, sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of eight months, and fined 200,000 yuan. Neither of the two appealed.
When the judgment was issued, Zhang Wutang was 35 years old. For a battery engineer in the golden period of his career, this is almost a devastating blow.
But he did not leave the industry, and even it can be said that he is full of ambition to achieve his goals.
In 2020, Zhang Wutang joined the battery sector under Tsingshan Group and served as the general manager of Lanjun New Energy. Zhong Kaifu also joined the company. Relying on Tsingshan Group's layout in upstream resources such as nickel and lithium, Lanjun New Energy quickly gained a foothold in the industry.
At the end of 2024, Zhang Wutang established Shenzhen Dangzhuo Battery Technology Co., Ltd. and served as its legal representative. Subsequently, Shenzhen Dangzhuo took over the former Zhejiang Huna Energy and held 66.4% of its equity. Huna Energy was established in July 2023, focusing on sodium-ion batteries in the early stage, and once received investment from institutions such as Pine Capital. In November 2025, Huna Energy was officially renamed Zhejiang Dangzhuo Energy, completely abandoning the sodium battery business.
From a technical elite to a legal defendant, from a senior executive of the Tsingshan system to the founder of Dangzhuo, every turn of Zhang Wutang accurately steps on the key nodes of the industry. But there is one problem that cannot be avoided all the time: a person who was once convicted of stealing the core technology of his former employer, now leads his own enterprise to compete with all the giants including his former employer, what does he rely on?
How Should the Industry View an Enterprise Founded by a "Stigma Founder"?
This is not a moral judgment question, but an industrial risk question.
Dangzhuo's biggest selling point is technology. On March 28 this year, Dangzhuo Battery released two special energy storage cell products — the 3000+Ah (DZ3000) cell with the code name "Super Large", and the new generation of 280Ah (DZ280) cell. The monomer capacity of the DZ3000 cell reaches 3000Ah, with a claimed cycle life of over 7000 times; the DZ280 cell has a claimed cycle life of over 12000 times.
But the problem is that all these data come from the enterprise's own test. For an enterprise whose founder has a previous record of technology theft, the credibility of its technical data is naturally discounted in front of customers and capital.
What is more subtle is the customer structure. Dangzhuo claims that it has already obtained a total of 20GWh energy storage and heavy-duty truck battery orders from two large central SOEs. In March 2025, Dangzhuo signed a 1GWh energy storage order with the central SOE Huaxia Jiaye. On August 21, 2026, on the day when the first phase of Jiaxing was put into operation, it signed a three-year 10GWh zero-carbon cell strategic cooperation agreement with Shanghai Ronghe Yuanchu.
However, central SOE procurement has a strict compliance review process. Will the founder's legal stigma become an obstacle to bidding? This is not unnecessary worry. In the energy storage industry, the customer certification cycle is more than one year, and any negative information may affect the final decision.
Foresee Energy believes that there is a deeper problem, that is, corporate culture. It is reported that when Zhang Wutang was at Lanjun New Energy, he once talked a lot about integrity education, emphasizing that "every employee is a business card of the company". But it is somewhat ironic that a founder who was once convicted of stealing secrets talks about integrity. In Dangzhuo's core team, Zhong Kaifu also has a previous record of secret theft. What kind of corporate culture can two people bearing the same legal stigma build?
This is not moral paranoia. Battery manufacturing is a typical precision manufacturing industry, involving thousands of processes, hundreds of patents, and countless technical secrets. How can a management team that lacks respect for the technical secrets of its former employer ensure that its own technical secrets will not be leaked? How can it win the trust of partners?
The industry is undergoing a brutal clearance. In the first half of 2026, more than 5 small and medium-sized cell enterprises have announced production suspension or production reduction. Some industry views hold that at least half of the energy storage enterprises may not survive 2026.
Whether Dangzhuo can become the half that survives depends on three things: whether the production line yield can be increased rapidly, whether the 30GWh orders can be converted into real cash repayment, and whether the subsequent 10-billion-level investment can be in place smoothly. If any link is disconnected, this huge production capacity map may collapse rapidly.
From the defendant in the CATL trade secret case, to the operator of Lanjun New Energy, and then to the founder of Dangzhuo Technology, Zhang Wutang has completed several identity transformations. But whether Dangzhuo can stand out in the end does not depend on how high the specification of the signing ceremony is, or how big the production capacity planning pie is drawn, but on how much of these production capacities can actually be sold, and how much real money can be earned back.
The battery industry does not believe in stories, only in yield, cost and orders. As for the founder's past, the market will give the final judgment.
What do you think of this enterprise? Foresee Energy welcomes your comments.