Q: Hello! Mr. Wang Yang, I learned that Towngas Energy Investment Limited has been awarded the title of “2023 Carbon Neutrality Pioneer Enterprise” at the Eighteenth 21st Century Annual Finance Summit of Asia. Later, I also learned that you are the vice general manager of Towngas Company in the industrial park in Jiangxi, so I’m very interested in both Towngas Company and you personally. I hope you could introduce us something in this personal interview.
A: Okay.
Q: Environmental issues are increasingly becoming a topic of concern for both the public and the government. Could you introduce how you entered the fields like low carbon, new energy, photovoltaic power generation and etc.?
A: I have a background in mechanical engineering and later I got a master’s degree in Management Science and a MBA degree in Finance. After graduation, I mainly worked as an engineer responsible for technology at General Motors and Schneider Electric China Limited. With my personal development, my business gradually focused on low-carbon, ESG, and new energy fields when I worked at Siemens China and Asia Clean Capital, focusing on investment in the new energy industry and promotion of distributed solar power plants. Later, I focused more on optimizing the current new energy and low-carbon scenarios at Zvalley Co., Ltd. And Towngas Energy. Through the upgrading and iteration of AIGC and Iot technologies, as well as the promotion of advanced virtual power plant VPP business models abroad in China, I can be said to be a seasoned veteran in the dual carbon field.
Q: Apart from the aforementioned awards, do you have any other contributions to Towngas Company?
A: I have a lot of other contributions, and I can only give you a few examples.
The first example is that I facilitated the signing of contracts for a dual carbon solution for a major client, the implementation of the solution, and the evaluation of its effectiveness. I promoted carbon neutrality and peak carbon solutions for factories under a precision group and a beverage group, both of which are major clients. As a result, the company was awarded the "WISE2023 Business King" award by Beijing Duoke Information Technology Co., Ltd. (36Kr).
The second example is that I promoted the implementation and operation of the first virtual power plant platform in China - the construction of an application scenario for a photovoltaic storage and charging integrated power plant project in Shenzhen. In December 2023, CCTV News Network featured the operation effect and influence of the case. Zhang Jianhua, Director of the National Energy Administration, and Qin Weizhong, Mayor of Shenzhen, visited and learned about the operation of the virtual power plant. They highly recognized the project's use of photovoltaic storage and charging flexible microgrid, energy routing, V2G, and virtual power plant technology to achieve on-site consumption of photovoltaic green electricity.
Under my promotion, Towngas Energy has become a leading energy Internet aggregation service provider in China. The operation management system of Towngas Energy's virtual power plant supports simultaneous business in different provinces and cities across the country, supports multiple virtual power plant operators to operate at the same time, and realizes the business support of multiple time scales and transaction types.
At present, Towngas Energy has invested in the construction of more than 500 smart energy projects in 22 provinces (regions, municipalities) across the country, and laid out 91 zero carbon industrial parks, providing green, safe, and efficient zero carbon smart energy management services and technical solutions for industrial and commercial enterprise customers and industrial parks.
Q: You are really an outstanding person with innovative spirit in the industry. You have made a lot of contributions to the successful case of the first virtual power plant in China reported by CCTV News. I’m sure you have achieved some achievements before working for Towngas Company. Please tell us something.
A: That’s too much to say. I can only give you a few examples.
The first example is that during my tenure at Zvalley Co., Ltd., I led the development of business scenarios that were controlled by personnel or had minimal personnel participation in the overall environment, a smart agricultural project of which won the national first prize. Because of my contributions, the company won the “First Prize of the First National Industrial Internet Innovation Competition” presented by China Academy of Industrial Internet in 2023.
The second example is that when I worked at Asia Clean Capital (Beijing) Green Utilities Engineering Co., Ltd. (ACC for short), I led a team to win numerous factory projects of Fortune Global 500 enterprises in China during the key investor evaluation period (2015-2016), including but not limited to Unilever, Volkswagen, SKF, Danone and Coca Cola. In addition, I got a $40 million investment from Goldman Sachs.
Q: Do you have any development plans for the future?
A: In recent years, there has been an increasing occurrence of catastrophic weather, with frequent natural disasters such as cold waves, hurricanes, and storms, both in China and other countries. They have a huge impact on power and water supply systems. This once again highlights the importance of improving infrastructure resilience and emergency response capabilities.
Therefore, my next business plan is to vigorously develop virtual power plants. By establishing a distributed community virtual power plant platform, distributed energy resources such as solar power plants and energy storage systems can be integrated. Through continuously developing the AIGC technology and updating large models for predicting weather and usage demand, the virtual power plant platform can not only improve the stability and reliability of power supply, but also provide emergency power support to local communities during natural disasters, hence reducing the impact of disasters.
I am very optimistic about the business plan concerning virtual power plant, and I absolutely have experience and ability in its successful operation and management. I hope to benefit the public by virtue of my experience and ability.
Reporter: Thank you very much for accepting our interview. We have benefited greatly and wish you even greater success in your future endeavors such as virtual power plant!
A: Thank you!